[AllOverTheGaff]

Thanks Simon, fingers crossed they reach an agreement and I can fly home as scheduled and not be out of pocket.

I’d say I was being inconvenienced but….Bali…5-star….I’ll be unable to hear that particular violin.

Rgds.
AOTG.

[Swissdiver]

[quote quote=961575]

rferguson wrote:

AOTG. On the ba.com IA Q&A page:

Although not explicitly yes or no i’d say it is likely they will pay for an additional nights accommodation. Paying for the cost to amend DPS-SIN i’d think less likely if it’s a separate ticket.

*sigh* – On an individual basis. It makes no sense to me, I cannot fly back home on the date I want to (and have booked) because of the strike action. And I don’t want to make any changes right now in case the strike doesn’t happen.
[/quote]

On an individual basis means they will reject any claim on an individual basis and offer 3000 miles as a gesture of good will on an individual basis…

[openfly]

How much money will Cruz save on the fuel bill for each day of the strike by way of the cancelled flights? How much will he save on pilots annual bonuses? Lots of other savings….I bet he makes money….😀😀, instead of “costing him £40m a day”. Could he be fibbing?!

[capetonianm]

Even as someone who refuses to travel on BA unless it’s absolutely unavoidable, I have been affected by collateral damage as a result of this strike.
Hell and damnation to you, Mr Cruz and all others who have contributed to the decline and fall of British Airways and the poor management that led to the strike.

[Cedric_Statherby]

Two things stand out in this long discussion:

1) Some very experienced travellers have been seriously inconvenienced by this – not so much by the strike itself as by BA’s appalling incompetence in handling it: conflicting and in some cases plain inaccurate advice, inadequate call centre lines, erroneous emails and so on. How less experienced travellers will have fared I do not know;

2) Not a single person on this thread has had a single good word to say for BA’s management.

At some point WW should take note of both these. Or if he does not care about this immediate matter, perhaps he should care about the plummeting respect for the BA brand: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/worlds-favourite-airline-british-airways-drops-to-55th-in-the-rankings-as-its-reputation-is-plagued-by-it-failures-hacking-attacks-and-pilot-strikes/ar-AAGX7Zk

I have several friends who are Gold, and a few who are Gold-for-Life who now fly that well-known pop-group ABBA – Anyone But BA. Even preferring airlines where they have no status. But then again, perhaps the status that other airlines offer, ie “valued customer who we will try to get to your destination” is worth more than a Gold card!

[SimonS1]

Reinforces my take on BA really.

BAEC is a good programme for earning OneWorld status. You can get Silver status relatively easily, whilst not having to set foot in a BA aircraft.

On the airline itself, I prefer to pass. When my travel organiser shows me flight alternatives I usually cross off any BA options unless the price is exceptional. Dated cabins and crowded lounges are best avoided.

Good luck to everyone tomorrow. After repeated IT failures and compromising customers’ card details people need this like a hole in the head.

[Cedric_Statherby]

[quote quote=962031]BAEC is a good programme for earning OneWorld status[/quote]

Yes I agree. I have a gold card, and I have used it in the last 12 months on Qantas (7 flights), Cathay (4 flights), LAN Chile (7 flights) … and BA just 3 times.

[Swissdiver]

It seems Spanish management “à la WW” works well for the shareholders… :-/ Beyond the fact I doubt today will cost “only” USD 50 mios (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-23/british-airways-says-pilot-strike-may-cost-50-million-per-day), the damage to the image is massive.

[capetonianm]

I am a British airways (IAG) shareholder and even as such I think the performance is abysmal and would prefer to see a properly run airline run with a balanced view benefiting both shareholders and customers rather than purely looking at rhe bottom line for shareholders.

I have to admit that I don’t track the value of my shares as they are part of a portfolio, nor of the dividends but I don’t imagine that the returns that anything better than mediocre.

[Cedric_Statherby]

[quote quote=962137]I have to admit that I don’t track the value of my shares[/quote]

Capetonianm – I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but IAG shares have not been immune to the general malaise and bad news surrounding BA. They were about £7.00 a year ago but have lost 40% of their value, and are now around £4.20.

I think the stock market is possibly indicating that investors know the true cost in terms of future brand and earnings potential of squeezing a company for financial gain today regardless of the financial cost tomorrow.

[capetonianm]

https://news.sky.com/video/ba-boss-cynical-pilot-union-to-blame-11805463

Cruz’s view. Note that he can’t even get the name of the airline correct, in the last few seconds.

The man is unfit for purpose and should be replaced.

1 user thanked author for this post.

openfly

[capetonianm]

Looking at Flightradar, as far as I can see, and excluding franchise operators, there is one British Airways flight in the air today, a flight from Jeddah to London.

An unprecedented, extraordinary and disgraceful situation. If Cruz can hold on to his position after all this and everything else then I will be amazed and deeply disappointed.

[Cedric_Statherby]

Capetonianm

May I suggest that as you are a shareholder you make this point to them directly?

[capetonianm]

i wrote to them when he was appointed because i was aware then of his track record and the likelihood that he would be a negative influence on the airline.
I have written to them twice since and have not even had the courtesy of a reply.
It’s perfectly clear that they don’t care about small individual shareholders any more than they care about the staff and passengers.
A lost cause.

[wilwal]

Another self inflicted BA disaster? We see Alex Cruz on National TV today giving highly scripted answers which avoid dealing with the questions.

Whilst the pilot strike is hugely frustrating and damaging in the short term, The loyal and world renowned pilot workforce (who commonly invest 20 to 30 years in the company, unlike managers such as Cruz and Walsh) are protesting at the hijacking and destruction of a once great brand and the fatal squeezing of costs in pursuit of profit. Passengers have been complaining for some years at the decline in service standards at Britain’s Flag Carrier. IT and Customer Service issues have highlighted just how far costs have cut into the resilience of the airline. Employee morale and loyalty are at rock bottom. The world class aircraft engineers are now deserting the airline in droves (many to Jet2, a low cost charter airline) dismayed at their treatment by British Airways, the blame culture and the reduction in their pay compared with other UK operators.

The pilots have looked on uncomfortably for years as the airline has sunk down the league of prestigious and respected airlines. Their terms & conditions have sunk with other staff groups and they have now had more than enough. Despite the headlines shouted by BA, this dispute is not all about money, it is about trying to rescue the airline from a penny wise pound foolish management culture which know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

For Alex Cruz to say the deal on offer has been accepted by 90% of the workforce is disingenuous. In order to persuade other unions to accept the deal, BA had to promise that in the unlikely event that the pilots were able to improve their position, the Company would automatically grant the same to the other staff groups. A win win for them with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Little wonder they accepted. Up until that point, and for the first time in the history of BA, the individual unions were united. They are still sympathetic to the pilot’s cause as the destruction of the airline’s brand pains all long serving staff the same, no matter what uniform they wear. Only in Waterside HQ do they kid themselves otherwise!

Alex Cruz, the man who drove his previous company, Vuelling, to the brink of bankruptcy is not fit to run the airline and must go. This pilot’s dispute might just be the push he needs.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Jacob, capetonianm

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