Cheaperholidays travel advice section, Travel health to Foreign travel tips.
Unite British Airways – what a mess.
- 
Will BA sack the striking Cabin crew and pay the ensuing fines or will they just force the Unite unions hand and grind the strikers down?
At the moment Cabin crew have no support from the Travel trade or the consumer..
Even Gordon Brown will be getting involved rather cynically to get everyone around the table before the strike and the fall out costs labour the next election.
The union quite rightly fears BA will sack strikers – which would break the law, but BA may be prepared to pay the ensuing compensation to break the union.
Rest assured, 12,000 BA cabin crew can be guaranteed more headlines than the 270,000 civil servants who were on strike last week. But that won’t translate as support for a strike.
So there is safety in involving a greater number: a one-day strike would involve one in ten members, but 10 days include everyone.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that BA aims to defeat the unionised cabin crew even at the expense of a strike.
The government will be lobbying hard for a settlement, desperate to avoid headline-grabbing strikes in the run-up to a general election.
The pressure on the BA boss will come from elsewhere – particularly if he calculates the airline will soon be dealing with a different set of politicians.
BA’s major corporate customers will be furious at the travel disruption in the short term, but City analysts and investors will applaud a triumph by Walsh.
It is Walsh who has chosen the timing and terrain for the battle.
----------------------------------------------------
These are Abta & Atol bonded companies - Your money is secure and protected.
£32000-£56000 a year for what exactly when a nurse or emergency service personnel who actually have a far more important role are on less than half that. i have a six year old daughter who would happily stand for a couple hours handing out a few bags of nuts and all it would cost willy is a couple tubes of Smarties.
Get rid of the lot of the moaning ***** and give their jobs to the crew who fly with the likes of virgin who rarely moan.
I am afraid I have to take slight issue with Daniel Smiths very poetic and heartfelt feelings about his colleagues at BA.
Of course,it is totally unfair to generalize because I am sure the majority of BA cabin crew carry out their duties in the impeccable fashion Mr Smith describes but unfortunately I can only comment on the experiences I personally have had with BA cabin crew over the last few years.
In general, I have sometimes experienced a slightly sullen,abrupt and impatient attitude of the cabin crew which leaves us, the customer with the distinct feeling that we are in the way.
However I am assured by my son who flies quite regularly on other European airlines that BA staff are angels compared to some he has encountered on those flights.
This is a feeling though that I seldom get when flying Virgin although if the salary differences brandished in the media are to be believed one would have expected this to be the other way round.
One negative experience of BA was a couple of years ago coming back from the States. While waiting to use the WC I noticed a mature American gentleman trying to attract the attention of 3 cabin crew who were sat in the galley area and deep in conversation.
After some time one of them finally chose to look up and acknowledge him and when he asked if he could please have a glass of water she simply pointed to the water bottle some 2 metres away and carried on talking.
Although maybe an isolated incident this is the kind of thing which stays in peoples minds.
I sincerely hope that this dispute is settled quickly and fairly for both sides and that our great British airline of which, despite my adverse comments, I am still very proud, survives and prospers.
Whatever the result though, it is so vital that any ill feeling harboured by BA crew is not transmitted to the customers and that even more effort be made to ensure people are genuinly welcome on board.
From another perspective.
The majority of BA’s 13,000 cabin crew, who already earn twice as much as their rivals at Virgin Atlantic.
Cabin service directors or CSD’s at the airline earn £56,000-a-year long haul and £52,000 short haul – the highest pay for those jobs in Britain.
The lowest paid cabin staff earn £36,000-a-year long haul and £32,000 on short haul.
By comparison, easyJet’s average crew wage is £20,200 and Virgin Atlantic’s just £14,400.
You decide…
Enjoy BA as long as it lasts, this uncertainty in the past, and now again, will seriously punish BA.
I can see huge losses ahead, because people will simply vote with their money to go to other airlines, instead of an airline who constantly have this strike threat.
And by the way, the service with BA is not that great either anymore, had several long haul nightmares London to USA with BA – I for one will make all my travel plans excluding BA, because I am not prepared to put up with over pampered lazy BA cabin crew, who are willing to put their companies existence on the line, while everyone else is trying their best to get by during the recession.
You will see, when you loose your jobs, BA is not untouchable, no company is untouchable anymore!
Dear Mr. Walsh, Mr. Brown and Lord Adonis.
Firstly, our congratulations, you have almost pulled it off – for
different reasons of course but essentially, when it comes down to it, the
same reason – self aggrandisement.
Mr. Walsh, you have successfully hijacked the spirit of British Airways
and made it all about you and you alone, whilst Mr. Brown and Lord Adonis
to your shame, you have unquestioningly gone along with it. There can be
no other way than Mr. Walsh’s. Forget the fact that many cabin crew have
worked proudly for this airline for ten, twenty, thirty or even forty
years; that whole families have followed in this profession of serving
passengers though generations.
We were here before you came Mr. Walsh and we will be here when you have
moved on.
You may have been CEO through the worst headlines that BA has ever
endured – numerous price fixing scandals and T5 disasters, but it is the
almost clandestine move of charging British Airways’ customers a premium
price whilst delivering a low cost service that will be your lasting
legacy.
Far from keeping the flag flying, under your stewardship Mr. Walsh, our
airline has become a faded and tattered version of itself.
The media that cheer your iron fisted, jingoistic approach to staff
relations will perhaps discover your real motives; as the high standards
of service that British Airways prides itself on are allowed to dwindle
away in the pursuit of lower costs.
Again, shame on you Mr. Brown and Lord Adonis for choosing to be so
ill-informed regarding the real reasons for our dispute, and equally for
buying into that same myth for your own political ends. The general
election is due to be called on one of our strike dates and in a moral
panic, without even bothering to look beyond the headlines and find out
what really this is all about, you both leapt enthusiastically and
cynically on the bandwagon of criticism.
After thirteen years in power you both finally choose to face down and
condemn “union power”. Except you got it wrong; this is not a hotbed of
irresponsible left- wing militants trying to bring down an airline, but a
predominantly female, professional and loyal, family orientated, middle
England and middle class workforce, desperately trying to save it.
So bravo chaps.
And the worse thing? You all know this, but it suits your different aims
to allow decent, hard working, caring people to be falsely demonized in
this way.
We know the good job that we do for our airline, and our customers
appreciate the way we look after them; we don’t want to strike nor do we
want to inconvenience a single customer, but we feel that we have been
left with no other way to get our voices heard.
The campaign against cabin crew is helping British Airways to adopt a
service style synonymous with our current cheerless CEO. We don’t want
that; we want to be proud to do the job that we love. We want to be able
to say, “yes we can” and “hope you enjoyed your flight”, not spend the
whole flight apologising for ill thought through cost cutting measures. We
want to come to work without fear and with pride once again.
We firmly believe that it is cabin crew who truly fly the flag for our
airline – and yes, with a smile, not a sneer.
Sincerely,
British Airways Cabin Crew