[BigDog.]

Hauptmann – 24/06/2014 05:11 GMT
…he (Walsh) has skillfully delivered, leading BA/IAG to a profitable business….

Um.. Sir Rod Eddington’s legacy to Walsh was the fundamentals for “The World’s Favorite Airline” and record profits. Eddington took only 5 years to deliver the legacy and navigated through 9/11 (when many airlines failed) to boot. Walsh turned that legacy into record losses, a second rate company and a third world employer.

edit : Rod Eddington was knighted in 2005 for services to the aviation industry.

[Hauptmann]

Ian_from_HKG is absolutely correct, the value of a CEO is judged by the shareholders, who will sever ties very quickly, if it is not sufficient. He is also right about the dilution of brand and that is the reason it good to see new aircraft coming onto the fleet and refurbishments for the older A320s that have 10 year + old interiors. Don’t knock the new seats until you have tried them, 34″ in an old fashioned (1990s design) v 30″ in a state of the art Pinnacle seat is not a big difference and anyone who has flown on the dreadfully uncomfortable NEK seats with the Luftwaffe will know that lack of knee room is not the reason for the discomfort. Time for some of the old ‘stick in the mud’ types on here to have an open mind until they try the new seats.

To Canucklad, I would ask who would be easiest to recruit, 300 cabin crew or 1 world beating CEO? Therein lies the answer to your question. I am sure that Willie Walsh knows he is unpopular with a lot of people and does not care, since he is in place to develop and execute strategies based on his interpretation of board policies, which are derived from the expressed wishes of the shareholders.

[dutchyankee]

Perhaps VK/SM/Captain when we get a chance to fly the new CE seat which `will be installed` we might change our opinion. But as you are the only one who has actually flown in the `brilliant new` seat, which again, according to reports, has yet to be installed, we will have to wait and see if our stick in the mud view will change. Funny how you have already experienced it, but then again, you do sound very special indeed. Perhaps you were part of the test group to approve the seat and reduction of 4 inches in leg room?

[Hippocampus]

Rod Eddington left Willie Walsh with a huge list of problems that needed fixing. Rod Edington only addressed the easy issues after 9/11 and failed to get a grip on the real underlying structural problems. Anyone who can’t see that is in a state of denial.

As for Mixed Fleet, every single negative prediction about Mixed Fleeg has proven to be wrong. Every single one:

They said Mixed Fleet wouldn’t last. Wrong.

They said Mixed Fleet wouldn’t get or keep the “blue riband” business routes. Wrong.

They thought they could run a smear campaign about Mixed Fleet. Wrong.

They said Mixed Fleet wouldn’t reach the standards of other fleets. Wrong.

Every single negative prediction: Wrong.

The Mixed Fleet contract is a tough one but it is driven by the seismic changes in the industry driven by the very same airlines people on this forum keep singing the praises of.

Mixed Fleet is also an excellent entry point into the aviation industry for those who want to pursue a career in aviation. Mixed Fleet cabin crew, working for the global aviation powerhouse that is IAG, have much broader career opportunities than cabin crew at many other airlines.

[Hauptmann]

dutchyankee

May I suggest that you fly on one of the new A320s that BA has introduced in 2014? They have the Pinnacle seat and if you sit in ET, they are pitched at 30″, exactly as they will be in CE, in the refurbished jets.

They have good knee room – G-EUYV is the one I experienced.

[GrahamSmith]

I’ve given the BA press office a ring this morning to ask if the new Club Europe seats have been installed yet – they haven’t.

This is what the BA spokesman had to say: “We have 11 A319s and five A320s that we received when IAG bought bmi. They were given a new interior when they joined the BA fleet, so it may be that the gentleman on your forum has flown one of them.

“They don’t have the centre console that the new Club Europe seats will have, and the fabric and headrests differ. They are quite similar, but not the same ones.”

[dutchyankee]

Thanks Graham, much appreciated. I guess that proves the point precisely. VK/SM/Captain claiming to have flown the new, brilliant CE seat is actually, factually impossible. Shame to have to be caught out in a lie so early in his most recent incarnation. Hey Ho, perhaps he will eventually learn.

BTW, Captain, anyone can find the plane registration of former BMI aircraft, or of those with different configurations, etc., it proves nothing, however, stating you have flown the new CE seat which has yet to be installed does prove something we have all known for quite sometime

Thanks again Graham.

And just in case the good old Captain goes to edit his post as he has been caught out in a lie, these are his original words:

`I have recently flown on BA on new 77W, A380, 787 and 320 aircraft (with the brilliant new Club Europe seat, that is so much more comfortable than the old converter type) and it is obvious to any open minded individual that BA has turned the corner and is now moving into a new phase,` posted at 05h11 GMT today

[Hauptmann]

It is no surprise that BA informed you that the CE seats have not been fitted, it is absolutely true. However, the new Pinnacle seats on the recent A320s are virtually the same and have the same pitch in ET.

Also, if you have the right connections, you can sit in the new CE seat and rferguson and handbag et al will confirm this.

The former bmi seats are pre NEK LH seats and are a very poor experience in the 30″ pitch that BA has imposed on the aircraft where they are installed – I do not recommend these and they should be removed and replaced as a matter of priority, as they let the side down.

[BigDog.]

Am not sure DutchYankee – ebay seat, MS flight simulator, TV, front room plus usual vivid imagination and a virtual world methinks it is possible.

[dutchyankee]

So Captain, you admit you have lied, many thanks.

[Hauptmann]

dutchyankee – 24/06/2014 10:23 GMT

Is G-EUYV an ex bmi aircraft? What seats does it have on it?

Okay, so there was no tray in the middle seat of row 16 – fair cop, but it was the new slimline Pinnacle and it was pitched at 30″ and it was very comfortable.

[Hauptmann]

dutchyankee – 24/06/2014 10:30 GMT

No. I said I had flown on the new seat. I f you wish to argue minor technicalities, that is up to you. You are missing the bigger picture and being petty minded, which is just as bad as the bigotted post of Hippocampus at 0903 – everyone knows mixed fleet had issues and teething problems, e.g. with the Atlanta flight, which was removed, so that is an over bullish summary, even though the model is now maturing well.

[dutchyankee]

BigDog, remember when many of us said the New First was `virtually` the same as the Old First just with fancy window shades, and we were told by VK/SM/HM we were wrong and that NF was a revolutionary new product, amazing how now a seat on the ex-BMI fleet is `virtually` the same as the `new` CE seat still to be installed, but perfectly fine for him to claim he has flown on it and then tout its benefits over other carriers with the same pathetic seat pitch. I reserve the right to test the seat for myself, in Club Europe, when and if I ever fly BA short haul again, but will not rely on the BA PR machine that is VK/SM/HM who has proved yet again his comments are solely based on a BA sales kit.

[GrahamSmith]

OK, please everyone calm down before I’m forced to close this thread.

The bottom line is Hauptmann has flown on a seat that might be similar to the forthcoming Club Europe seats but has a different fabric and headrest.

And Hauptmann, for a “new” member you really have come out all guns blazing. Please rein it in a bit. The same goes for older members. Thanks.

[BigDog.]

My apologies Graham, you are correct. The forum has been most civil yet with lively fact and experience based discourse over the last month. Long may it continue.

[Author]

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