Flying BA over Christmas?

[Lichtgestalt]

Think again....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/trave ... trike.html

Cabin crew will walk out on Tuesday, December 22 for 12 days, unless agreement can be reached between the airline and union negotiators.

Industrial action was confirmed by the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa) ahead of the formal announcement of the ballot, by the cabin crew union, Unite.
"We are deeply saddened to have reached the point where we must take industrial action to get our voices heard, but feel that we have been left with no other choice," Bassa said.

The industrial action by around 13,500 cabin crew will also heap misery on passengers, at one of the busiest times of the year.

At best they face days of uncertainty while the union maps out its strategy. At worst they will find themselves scrambling for seats at a time when they will be in short supply.

It will also be a disaster for the struggling airline, which is facing losses of £800 million this year.

The timing of the dispute is far more damaging than the one which took place in February 2007 when a walkout was only averted by a last minute deal.

It is taking place when BA would have hoped to cash in on the Christmas rush. Instead it find itself having to placate angry passengers.

BA managers have made little secret of the fact that they regard the strike threat as suicidal, fearing that passengers who are lost to other carriers may not return.

It says drastic economies are needed to help the airline cope with aviation's biggest crisis since the September 11 terrorist outrage.

Airlines across the world are on course for losses of £6.8 billion. According to Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, the airline is facing a "fight for survival."

Earlier in the year BA pleaded with staff to work for nothing, take unpaid leave or cut their hours.

It is now looking for further efficiency savings, including cutting the number of cabin crew on a flight.

According to BA, its cabin crew earn twice as much as their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic and also enjoy generous allowances on top of their salary.

For example a crew member flying to Tokyo for a four day trip would receive allowances of £935 in addition to both salary and hotel costs.

Last year the airline carried 1.6 million people over the Christmas break with long haul destinations, such as New York in particularly strong demand.

Feelings had been running high among cabin crew, who have accused the company of trying to impose new contracts.

[Morrolan]

always helpful to your employer when they're already not making any profit to begin with and are generally seen as only slightly better than Air France and KLM...

[Bender]

Looks like the inevitable may still happen and BA will go belly up. Do I care? No.

Good riddance I'd say. Whenever I've ended up on BA it's been a codeshare and it's been crap.

[slinky]

According to BA, its cabin crew earn twice as much as their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic and also enjoy generous allowances on top of their salary.

For example a crew member flying to Tokyo for a four day trip would receive allowances of £935 in addition to both salary and hotel costs.

Well, that's surely got to be a big part of the reason they're struggling financially! Does the average flight crew member even earn £935 in salary for such a trip? They've got to be at least doubling pay for a lot of employees just on that trip alone.

[Dinosaur]

BA = Bloody Awful

[Satellite]

Glad I chose SQ

[chocolate]

yay for choosing US Airways!

[Morrolan]

and now it's Qantas' turn: Qantas engineers may strike over Christmas

[daffodil]

Qantas and BA are just doing their bit to reduce carbon emissions

[Kooky]

So glad to be going on a 90 minute drive to my hollyday destination.

[baloo]

So glad to be going on a 90 minute drive to my hollyday destination.

Is that normal driving or have you factored in Aussie holiday season traffic jams ?

[Kooky]

Well it's google maps driving so probably way underestimated to start with - yeah I have heard they can be rather large jams. Ah well, it beats working; project managing hippies is akin to herding cats.

[Fat Bob]

So glad to be having a cab company take me to Raffles for Xmas, And having a small child there so grumpy can't be invited.

[Morrolan]

Scotland's biggest airline Flyglobespan goes bust

who?

[Tas]

and now it's Qantas' turn: Qantas engineers may strike over Christmas

say what? international or domestic, presume domestic, off to read. bar stewards if it affects me. and people wonder why I say Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air are my preferred airlines.

and as for BA, what idiots! after the financial problems off the last year or so, pressure on airlines across the board, you'd think they'd be greatful that they had jobs, and they want to position their company into an even worse state. bunch of idiots. hope they're happy when they end up on dole.

[Fat Bob]

Scotland's biggest airline Flyglobespan goes bust

who?

I got cuddles the lab eating the Xmas presents.

[daffodil]

Me too. Cute lab tho

[Morrolan]

Scotland's biggest airline Flyglobespan goes bust

who?

I got cuddles the lab eating the Xmas presents.

odd...
here's the Beeb: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8417430.stm

[Morrolan]

BA strike ruled illegal by High Court

[Fat Bob]

This is turning into a right panto!

Flying BA over Christmas? Oh, no you're not!

Oh, yes you are!

[daffodil]

I'll bet the level of service the BA cabin crew would provide in this situation would be nothing to laugh about.

[Morrolan]

I'll bet the level of service the BA cabin crew would provide in this situation would be nothing to laugh about.

which is different from usual how?

[daffodil]

Harsh but fair

Though I must say that in general I've had good service from BA in the last few years. Certainly no worse than most of the other major airlines.

[Morrolan]

Harsh but fair

Though I must say that in general I've had good service from BA in the last few years. Certainly no worse than most of the other major airlines.

true, i was just staying in character...

[Tas]

""We'll see at the end of the day who wins this, we will see at the end of the day proper democracy, proper justice," added Mr Simpson. "

Bunch of idiots, no one wins when they're out of a job, lets see democracy work for your pay packets then eh. Sounds a lot like its about the 'fight' than reality with a couple of these chaps.

And if he wanted to prattle on about democracy, then they should have made sure that the vote was legitimate, and maybe they'd like to include the paying customers who are stakeholders in the decision about not flying...