[JulianCucumberpatch]

It looks like Hippocampus has also been exposed, along with Vintage Krud, as elitist BA pilots with a psychopathic hatred of BASSA.

The giveaway Hippo, is your Telegraph crossword deduction of the reason why Mixed Fleet have been removed from the ATL route..

[JulianCucumberpatch]

Eastbourne Guy. Upgrading is an emotive subject for passengers, especially when as you say friends and family of the crew are reseated.

These days the crew are asking for trouble if they make upgrading as obvious as you say. BA’s fraud policy was revamped last year and cabin crew very rarely get involved in upgrading….unless they are told to move passengers by the Captain.

Perhaps Vintage Krud and Hippocampus can enlighten us all on what Fleetlist is, and how BA pilots use it as a social network for upgrading?

[craigwatson]

what is it with BASSA’s obsession with BA pilots??!!

[rferguson]

The transfer was due to operational efficiencies.

ORD was to be transferred some time ago but Mixed Fleet lacked the numbers to operate the 3 x daily rotations. They did however have the numbers for a 1 x daily stateside operation so were temporarily given ATL. They now have the numbers to operate the 3 x daily ORD. BA stated from the beginning that routes may transfer backwards and forwards. Hippo, Rio went to MF some months ago.

There is however some truth in the feedback of a particular ATL based soft drinks co. Their head of human resources (UK) complained to BA head of corporate accounts that their execs are arriving into london tired as the service is taking too long in F and J.

In fairness though it was also the same situation at LGW when BA re-structured that crew base and the short haul crews, most with mo LH experience took over the long haul flights. Stories of chaotic service, meals taking hours to be given out, F class pax been greeted with ‘alrite mate’ lol. But in time it bedded down.

Corporations do have immense power over BA. Several years ago BA was due to reduce frequency on the LHR/PHL route to one per day. One of our biggest corporate accounts, a huge pharma company based in PHL, threatened to cancel their agreement with BA. The second daily flight was maintained. And one can see why. When operating the PHL for instance a glance at the passenger list in F or J shows that at least 30-50% of pax are employees of this corporation.

[Bullfrog]

Can someone please explain in lay terms the difference between ‘Mixed Fleet’ & other …. ?

[wmflyer]

Tête_de_cuvée, if your pitiful suggestion that accidental slide deployment is somehow linked to MF route transfers, do you care to comment on the most recent weekly safety briefing on the BA intranet which mentions 2 slide deployments on WW routes?
Your anti-MF comments are tedious.

[rferguson]

Bullfrog I will do my best.

‘Legacy crew’. Employed on a base salary with annual increments up to 18 years of service. ‘Variable pay’ includes meal allowences, Long Range payments, overtime on duties over 12.5hrs (so minus pre flight report time and post flight ‘clear time’ any flight over 10:30 will generally trigger O/T – an hourly rate paid at 15min increments), night away allowence. Time off downroute is generated by flight length and time difference from UK time. In a nutshell where there is a daily flight: US (any destination other than LAX/SFO) is one night. LAX/SFO 2 nights. Middle east, India, 1 night. JNB/CPT 2 nights. Far east/orient 2 nights. Sth America 2 nights. Days off at home: Varies on inbound flight length and time change. North America – 3 days plus arrival day. Mid east, shorter african sectors – 2 days. JNB 3 days. CPT 4 days. MEX/Sth America – 3-4 days. Far east 4-5 days.

Mixed Fleet. Basic pay (no increments). Hourly per diem payment (£2.61p.h). Monthly bonus for not calling in sick. Time off downroute is 24hrs where there is a daily flight. Time off at base 2 days after a block of work (may include several days of short haul ‘there and backs’ follwed by a long haul trip then two days off for instance).

And as a comparison, QF LHR base (another ‘new contract’ cost saving base for QF)
Basic salary with a decent increment after three years of service. Meal allowences similar to BA. Holiday allowence (approx £500 p.a). Sector pay (£50 per longhaul sector).
All new crew start as ‘Economy flight attendants’ with the ability to later go thru a further selection process and training to become a ‘Business/First Flight Attendant’.

[wmflyer]

Mixed Fleet have a basic salary, with 2 performance-related increments of £1000 each. The hourly rate is £2.60. There is monthly attendance bonus of £100 and a further £50 bonus based on inflight assessments and fleet-wide “Think Customer” survey scores.
There is a bidding system for the type of trips – shorthaul/longhaul/mix and days off. There is a minimum of 9 days off a month.

[rferguson]

WM I agree with you re accidental slide deployment. The other ‘fleets’ have had their fair share of mis-haps as well.

All crew at BA – WW/EF/MF are trained to the same safety levels and pass the same exams/drills.

BTW, how are the ‘performance’ bonuses measured for the main crew? Is it based on an indicviduals performance or fleet/company wide?

[wmflyer]

The £1000 basic pay increases are based on individual performance and are expected to be achieved after 11-18 months and 20-24 months service.

[Bullfrog]

Thanks for the information. It is a little too hard to translate into actual numbers to make a comparison.

An actual salary comparison between ‘legacy’ and ‘mixed fleet would be useful, say based on a staff member of 2 years duration and perhaps 5 years.

Maybe I am being too simplistic & such a comparison is hard to calculate.

[craigwatson]

a big problem for MF crew right now is the rosters, they use the same system that eurofleet use, and I dont think they have quite got the hang of it yet. You bid, and the system tries to give at least 60% satisfaction of your bid, but I have seen a roster that looks like the following;

M – LHR-BUD-LHR
T – LHR-PRG-LHR
W- LHR-NBO
T – NBO-LHR
F – LHR-PRG-LHR
S – LHR-PSA-LHR

how is that for a work week! (all for a take home pay of £1000, and you have to pay all expenditures down route yourself, although obviously not hotel).

It will be good in the long run, but right now crew are being run ragged, but I feel that is more down to the way they are bidding, and staff shortages in MF. Once the numbers rise and crew become more familar with the bidding system it should settle down.

But the next time you are being served by MF just remember they maybe on the end of this roster and are absolutely shattered.

[batraveller2]

I do not see it as my problem if the crew are tired as I am still paying the same fare. It is good to see that Corporations have an influence over the slow service of Mixed Fleet. It is a shame that Chicago will also go downhill, and I would have thought that has a lot of business people.

I have not been on mixed fleet for a few months but am in Club from Denver in a few days and Club to Amsterdam and so will see if it is any better, but I suspect not. Maybe I will get a drink before landing!

[wmflyer]

craigwatson, as Mixed Fleet crew, I can safely say I have never seen a roster that looks like that although I’m not saying it’s not possible.
If crew are getting their rosters like that then you are right, a lot of it is down to bidding incorrectly.
And the take home pay is more than £1000 a month. If you know the basic pay is approx £870 take home, it doesn’t take much to work out you only need to do a 2-3 of night stops to reach a £1000 and most crew are doing far more than that. A lot of crew like to quote the £1000 take home, what they don’t admit to is the amount they have spent using the host expense system which has reduced their salary to that.

[Bucksnet]

Craig, although that is a 6 day week, and I’ve done 6 & 7 day weeks in the past myself, 4 of the days are a single short haul rotation. Surely time in the air is around 4 hours, and around 5 hours away from LHR in total?

[Author]

Posts