[JonathanCohen09]

Hello everyone,

Geohoveuk, you say that VK’s BA rhetoric is ‘too much for (any) one to bare’!!

Well I have to say that I, and possibly many other contributors are beginning to feel exactly the same way about you continual anti BA rhetoric!

Regular contributors to this forum know very well that I am no fan of BA but I do not wish the carrier ill will either. I have also had my disagreements with VK, i do however find myself agreeing with what he has said in this thread.

It seems to me that you are as anti BA as VK is pro. you are both absolutely entitled to the views that you hold. Your views however seem to me to be more emotional than logical. CC were warned that if they went on strike they would loose their staff travel perks. Those that went on strike can not say that they were not warned.

I am also not sure why crew on days off are relevant as they would not be on strike and so would not have lost their perk. I am also not sure what you mean by crew who were not in the position to show up for their flights. If they had good reason not to show up and were not on strike, then again, they would not loose their perk.

I would be most interested to hear what you would do if you were running BA to sort this out. I know many CC who did not want the strike and never will as they know very well the likely long term impact of their nunion continuing along this disastrous course if ID.

On a lighter note it would seem that my plans to go to Tel Aviv may be on hold for longer than I expected. the supreme irony for me and this will not be lost on regular contributors is that EL AL have offered to book me onto BA tomorrow night in CW if our airspace is open as they cannot fly due to the Jewish Sabbath.

Who would have thought that I would end up on BA due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Safe travels everyone,

Jonathan

[Potakas]

can someone explain to me why BA’s cabin crew is making all this strikes when in the same time Lufthansa announces 800 jobs to go for Bmi and no-one reacts?

[VintageKrug]

Quite right Potokas. It’s because a few of them live in a union induced cloud-cuckoo land where recession does not exist.

And to geohoveuk’s last post, I promise not to bare anything unless provoked!

And it would take a “plenitude” of provocation for that to happen! 😉

[VintageKrug]

Now it seems alll this has focussed the attention of HMRC. As a perk it’s OK for staff to use the discounted travel for business purposes.

If indeed it is a contractual benefit, as BASSA is busily asserting, then indeed iot would be necessary to pay tax and National Insurance on the value of the benefit.

Another own goal for the Union imbeciles.

[flybmi.com]

What will happen to crew who went on strike but are still able to book personal travel or indeed hold a current booking for the coming months?

Surely this must me hard to manage and police?

[billyfreedom]

VK – BA Staff Travel Policy specifically bars use for business purposes.

If HMRC does pursue this how would the taxable value be calculated given the pricing/revenue management policies of airlines and given that travel is on a standby basis, ie there is no single or comparable commercial fare. Also, in some cases on shorthaul it is possible to buy a commercial fare from a LCC that is lower than the BA concessional fare.

I also imagine BA (and all airlines) would be opposed to it becoming a taxable benefit as it would be a nightmare to administer. The additional costs would also be passed on in higher concessional fares.

[VintageKrug]

When I say “business purposes” I mean in connection with doing their job at BA e.g. commuting from EDI to London for report for duty.

It would be easily policed by comparing the market price at the time of booking and using the difference to define the benefit in kind. Simples.

[billyfreedom]

VK – I don’t believe there is or can ever be a ‘market price at time of booking’ when airlines are increasingly adopting dynamic pricing. And who exactly is in a position to track the market price given the multiple channels and airlines involved?

There maybe an argument for confirmed staff travel to be a taxable benefit based on the employer airlines lowest commercial fare but not standby travel. Its complicated because even confirmed concessions can be downgraded to standby.

[JackyLek]

How many of the BA Crew need to travel by air to LHR to get to work ?

Isnt strange that U apply for a position that is far away from your home?

Well for me is the crew problem to find themselves in this situation, if they were smart, as someone state here …. they should have force this.

[flybmi.com]

JackyLek

Isnt strange that U apply for a position that is far away from your home?

Isn’t that a bit of a silly question I mean it’s everyones choice where to live and work, a lot of people do not wan’t to live in the areas surrounding LHR.

Also can you imagine how crowded London would be if nobody commuted to the city from out of town areas to work.

[NTarrant]

This is a bit of a grey area and HMRC works in mysterious ways. Travel concessions provided to bus and rail workers are not taxed, the HMRC tried to go down that road many years ago, but could not find a suitable way of taxing it as a benefit. It is a bit like companies paying for mobile phones, its not taxed because its too difficult to prove.

However, air travel is a lot different to bus and rail travel and accounting for it is much easier. I would agree that finding a market fare would be difficult, although there is no reason why a formula could not be based on the flown mileages. So the flown mileage for LHR-EDI is 333, therefore the tax would be worked out on a multiplyer of the miles. Yes it sounds complicated, but so can HMRC

[JackyLek]

flybdA330

I do think is strange if U lived in Manchester or Newcastle and your work is in LHR, and U need to travel every 2 or 3 times every months.
But its your choice to do that but, but then U have to think of the fact that U have choosen that.
For me commute is taken a train or bus 1-2hours not 6-8hours…..

[billyfreedom]

When employees travel on bus or rail concessions they are travelling the same as everyone else who paid a commercial fare. Standby air travel is not the same. It is possible to standby for hours if not days to get on a flight to your destination.

Its not as if HMRC has not been aware of staff travel. Its been in existence for decades and they have not targeted it before. I think its just hot air.

[NTarrant]

When BA closed the regional bases, staff would probably have been offered either redundancy or a job in another location. A job in another location is just that, an employer does not have to offer subsidised travel or disturbance allowance.

That is not strictly true Billyfreedom, the fact someone might be on standby for hours would be irrelevant to HMRC, once on board then they are travelling the same. HMRC are aware of many perks in all manner of industries but lack the staff and resources to look more closely which is why this has probably not surfaced before. You might be right in that it is all hot air and something far more juicy might appear for HMRC to play with!

[NTarrant]

Very touching Geohoveuk, but as you have demonstrated, the guy had a choice and sensibly chose to work to protect his concessionary fares. I am sure in time your friend will realise that he made the right choice.

Are you advocating that these disaffected cabin crew give poor service to the customers? They are paid to do a job and have been trained to give a good service. If I receive poor service from a member of staff in any organisation I will complain and I am sure many others on this forum would do as well. Continue to give bad service and it won’t travel perks to worry about but the stigma of being dismissed

[Author]

Posts