[VintageKrug]

1. Number of passengers flown is not a credible metric on which to base the success of an airline. Margin is key, and against a very challenging background, BA has lowered its cost base markedly to maintain, and in some cases increase, margin and briefly achieved a 10% margin in 2008 for the first time in a decade under Willie Walsh’s tenure, which is what triggered the dividend.

2. When Willie Walsh joined the firm in September 2005, the BA share price was 2.48p. When it closed for the final time, the share price was around 2.80p.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=BAY.L

It is simply not true that the share price halved over the past six years.

3. BA paid a dividend of 5p on 31 July 2008; it has a clear dividend policy and will not pay out cash which is needed for reinvestment in the product.

4. Walsh’s salary has no bearing whatsoever in this disupte; if you benchmark against similar companies his salary is not excessive, and he has on several occasions taken salary sacrifice and refused bonuses to which he was contractually entitled, all the while delivering impressive returns against a background of a very difficult trading environment.

With specific reference to cabin crew, he has not imposed compulsory redundancies on cabin crew, and has maintained existing T&Cs when most every other airline had massive programmes of compulsory redundancies, furloughed cabin crew and drastically reduced pension and other benefits.

British Airways is not currently on track to lose money, so the dispute is not having the effect you alledge. Conditions remain challenging, but profitability is much more linked to global economic conditions and the price of oil. Challenges BASSA refuse to acknowledge.

Passengers are continuing to book knowing that any impact from a strike would be minimal, and this is borne out in recent passenger numbers which are robust, especially in light of recent weather events:

http://www.iagshares.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=240949&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1524041&highlight=

The evidence of previous strikes is that while previous threats may have had some effect on lower yeilding, advance sales, the higher yeilding fully flexible business customers came back to BA pretty quickly after the strike, and being closer to the issues in the dispute recognise that having run 80% of longhaul LHR services last time round that their assertion that 100% of longhaul will run is likely to be correct also.

The blatant agenda of BASSAmentatlists to move this issue on to pilot pay is both desperate and sad.

The dispute is over; BASSA lost.

Once again, every single point has been refuted, with factual evidence and where possible a reference to demonstrate the proof of it, in the face of downright mistruths.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Propaganda lies and spin by the legal luvies of BA. A typically mendacious response by the leading mendacious poster – witness the 43% thread (when over 78% had voted for IA) – red top sensationalism at its worst.

BA have removed the original evidence indicating a single dividend payment of 5p over the whole WW era – however….

http://www.northcote.co.uk/company_links/by_Index.asp?SIT=1&IID=ftse%20100&SDL=NI00443

If monies are reinvested as opposed to paying dividends, shareholders expect a commensurate rise in asset value, reflected in shareholder value….. but no…

Impact of a new CEO strategies kick in around 12-18 months after taking the position. 14 months after WW took the reins, cue the start of a rise in share value resulting from the CEO implemented strategic innitiatives…. but no…. the price was around 580 then WW and his team took it down to 280

http://www.advfn.com/lse/ShareChart.asp?sharechart=BAY

Walsh’s salary is an issue – Walsh has had a 37% increase whilst tanking shareholder return….. that is paying for and rewarding significant underperformance.

WW team achievements
– Industry leading fines for corrupt practices across the world.
– Huge losses from hedging whilst competitors made money – dwarfing the cost of CC IA.
– National embarrassment of T5
– Biggest losses in BA history.
– Worst IA in BA history.
-Worst sharholder returns.
– From World’s favourite airline to Zero World Airline Awards 2010 (17.9 million passengers surveyed globally.)

http://www.worldairlineawards.com

If WW was genuine about reducing costs as opposed to union busting why are new mixed fleet pilots on the same Salary and T&C as legacy pilots?

Walsh has cost BA dear.

Am sure when BA are of the opinion the dispute is over, the host of legal advisors will depart; the expensive VCC scheme will be abandoned and the 7000+ cabin crew currently in dispute will be remotivated.

[Alasdair]

“The dispute is over & BASSA have lost.”

Really? Another spurious comment. Is that why BA continue to throw away shareholders returns on expense paid vacations of international ground staff over to LHR to train as Crew for a strike that will never happen?

Add to that, take hundreds out of their posts in the UK (like Engineering, IT etc) leaving departments short staffed and under manned. All to prepare for a dispute which is done dusted?

Next time you step on a BA plane and the video screen flops about or a toilet is out of use & you look around thinking how tired the whole outfit is looking, just know that the people responsible for repairs have been UNNECESSARILY summoned to Crew training school.

Or are BA still worried? And is that why they continue to throw away thousands of pounds rather than negotiate?

[Hippocampus]

Exactly which of the points made by VK and I are not true (and neither of us work for BA)?

Regarding your points, the losses on fuel hedges were accounting losses (not actual cash losses) due to the way in which fuel hedging instruments are treated for financial reporting purposes under the financial reporting standards which BA as a listed company (unlike Virgin) had to comply with. Fuel hedging is meant to smooth oil price changes, it cannot mitigate it entirely.

No-one is going to defend the fines for collusion on passenger surcharges. However, the activity itself was not on WW’s watch.

T5 (like other terminals) got off to a difficult start (and BAA had a hand in much of it) but it has transformed punctuality and baggage handling at LHR. The experience will get better with the opening of T5C this year.

Bmi, Virgin and Air France KLM also posted dire financial losses in FY10 (worse than BA when compared to turnover). Are you going to blame WW for that as well? Are you also going to blame WW for the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns?

Not that I take much notice of awards, but WW did pick up a lifetime achievement award recently which was well deserved for the admirable way he has tackled fundamental structural issues facing the company which his predecessors had the luxury of dodging due to a more benign economic environment.

In truth, isn’t the real reason for the pathological obsession with WW (including the abhorrent and wholly inexcusable use of Nazi imagery) because BASSA is behaving like a spolit child that has never heard the word ‘No’ before?

As for VCC, they are here to stay and will enable the swifter recovery of the airline during disruption, which BASSA has cynically sought to sabotage in the past. The heavy snow in 2008 being an example where BASSA insisted crews on diverted inbound aircraft had 2 local nights rest at Prestwick etc.

As for what happens next, who knows? But on the basis of Len’s statement last week, the ballot paper should be due on Friday or Monday next week. However, on the basis of the track record of the past three ballots, the chances of a legally watertight ballot are pretty slim.

[Alasdair]

So is that why Engineers (some of the larger numbers of VCC’s) have been briefed that they are being called up and prepared for Easter ie proposed IA? Not for snow disruption or whatever you wish to glaze this over with. Unless of course WW also has the talent to foresee freaky adverse weather conditions for spring.

VCC’s are purely an exercise draining resources both financial and human, admit it! For the sake of keeping existing crew on their current terms and conditions and NEGOTIATING openly with Unite, BA are content with dragging this dispute out until the bitter end.

And I agree with you Hipo, legal watertight ballots are pretty slim under this country’s dire current legal system, which is clearly slanted to the employer and workers rights swept under the carpet.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

A highly motivated CC team with good morale has a high degree of goodwill. BA has tapped into this goodwill to overcome weather and technical disruptions in the past.

Employers who understand how to motivate reap the benefits and can leverage the goodwill. Those without a clue about employee motivation pay a huge cost.

As BA have destroyed the previous goodwill of the cabin crew, in their hour of need BA can no-longer depend on part-time crew working extra hours to help out or rely on FT crew to come in on their days off to help the company they loved.

BA will now continually pay. VCC require intial training of around 2 weeks (full time legacy crew had 6 weeks) 3 days compulsory Safety Procedure re-certification annually. 4 recency trips per licenced aircraft per year – providing substandard service. Plus the trainers, course co-ordnators etc.

The VCC scheme has certainly had the benefit of enlighting pilots, managers, office workers within BA – some not being able to handle it though!

http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/173-news/5584-qbloody-passengersq-scabbing-ba-pilots-start-to-crack–

It appears that BA will continue to pay for this dispute for a long time to come .. VCC; lost revenues; plethora of legal and pr advisors; sub standard service; reputation; bad morale; division … when they could settle at negligible cost.

[Hippocampus]

Crew are willing to go the extra mile, but was really stopped them from doing so?

Remember the CSD who did not observe the absurd two night local rest rule after the inbound snow diversions a couple of years ago?

How did BASSA respond to this? They ran a poll on its website asking members to vote on whether the CSD should be “named and shamed”? I don’t know about you, but I’d call that macho machismo trade union bullying.

Or let’s take the Denver incident? Remember when BASSA insisted a delayed aircraft divert (at huge unnecessary expense to the company and its passengers) even though it was perfectly safe and legal for the aircraft to continue to its final destination. And this is far from the only unnecessary diversion caused by BASSA.

Or let’s look at the Toronto incident from the snow disruption a few years ago. The flight to LHR was down on crew and had operated from LHR with a closed F cabin. Not a problem for the inbound crew because an off duty crew member was willing to work. But BASSA said no. Because the outbound flight operated with no F cabin, the inbound had to as well. Cue downgrades of passengers, lost revenue and lost goodwill.

Or remember when BKK was closed because the airport was occupied by protestors and SYD-BKK-LHR flights had to operate via SIN. As there were no crew in situ at SIN to operate the SIN leg, pax were dumped at SIN and the aircraft flew to LHR with no pax. Why? Because BASSA would not let the SYD-SIN crew carry on to LHR after they’d had the minimum rest. Yet the pilots were allowed to do so without any intervention from BALPA.

How many other incidents are there like this?

In truth, isn’t the supposedly bygone era of high morale and motivation really a reference to when BA indulged BASSA and allowed it to exercise a strangehold over the operation, something which BA can no longer afford to do in today’s competitive environment.

This neatly circles back to what we all know this dispute is really about for BASSA: power.

And this is why BASSA has scuppered every attempt at a settlement. And whatever the company offers to BASSA, it will never be enough.

[Alasdair]

And you aren’t a manager at BA?

Clearly BASSA is aiming for consistency, and it is beneficial for all crew on the current terms and conditions to uphold these.

I’m surprised you don’t realise this Hipo.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

… similarly Hippo BASSA try to protect their members but fail to do so at times when an employer overrides taking risks to preserve revenue whilst other carriers took a more careful, prudent approach and cancelled flights …..

“BA has always denied that it was liable for the plight of passengers and crew who were detained after the flight landed, although it has since paid substantial compensation to members of the flight crew held hostage during the Iraqi invasion”.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ba-seeks-media-gag-on-hostage-tapes-1491266.html

[Hippocampus]

And as usual, you ignore cogently argued substantive points and go for a cheap irrelevant shot.

A modern competitive airline should do what is right on the day for the customer and the operation, and not take peverse operational decisions due to restrictive practices.

It is this approach of flight crew that has ensured all BA mainline pilots are part of one fleet. Perversely it is the approach of BASSA that made it necessary to introduce a new Mixed Fleet on separate T&Cs.
Do you condone union bullying of its own members?

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Hippo .. crew demonstrating goodwill was a highly regular event, incidents and sickness down route, resulting in shortages would be worked through on a regular basis.
Crew, although out of hours due to delays beyond their/BA’s control, would be frequently work.. these go unreported…
Agreed there are times when BASSA acts unreasonably, the retort shows management also overstep the mark.

I certainly do not condone bullying by anyone, whether union or employer

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/shock_findings_confirm_culture.aspx

I believe both sides have acted reprehensibly which is the nub of the problem now. If the BA leadership had acted with a far higher degree of ethics and sagacity they would have won the hearts and minds of the majority of the BASSA moderates.

[VintageKrug]

2,500 BASSA moderates have resigned since this dispute began, according to BASSA’s own overestimated recordkeeping.

The remaining 4,500 “moderates” were told to leave by Duncan Holley on 23 January 2011:

“I would like to send this message to everyone who has either left BASSA, voted NO, or to a lesser extent not voted. You have been given your say and the majority has spoken. If you have any integrity you should accept Bill Francis’s offer straight away because your actions and votes are a tacit acceptance of what BA propose.”

http://uniteba.com/LATESTNEWSUPDATES.html

’nuff said.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Moderates’ dissatisfaction with BASSA should in no way be misconstrued as becoming increasingly empathetic with the BA position. Many of the heavy handed tactics employed by BA have alienated the moderates to a far greater extent than BASSA’s ineptitudes.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Apparently WW has made himself responsible for BA’s industrial relations and dealing with Unite despite moving onto a more lucrative higher plane… or hire plane

Surely as it is allegedly so over, it would be similar to PrinceTalal deciding to directly oversee the doorman or housekeeping responsibilities at the Savoy Hotel.

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/22/36213/walsh-still-leading-ba-union-talks.html

Doesn’t he trust Keith Williams? Or could it be a Tony Hayward, Robert Dudley handover scenario … hopefully.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

With volunteer crew having minimum basic requirement training and MF contracted to work longer hours, could BA be ploughing a similar furrow and taking similar risks?

Note the training captain’s comments “shortening the training time for cabin crew had implications for the operation of the aircraft and passenger safety”.

“If you are crammed with six weeks’ worth of knowledge in three weeks, it is inevitable that you are not going to be able to recall all the important pieces of information that you need to,” he said.

http://www.aviationrecord.com/SearchResults/tabid/37/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3399/Air-safety-hurt-by-cost-cuts.aspx

http://www.aviationrecord.com/SearchResults/tabid/37/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3399/Air-safety-hurt-by-cost-cuts.aspx

Legacy crew had 7 weeks intitial training… can anyone comment on Mixed Fleet?

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