Had another go at working last night. Reported mid-evening for XXX (Africa) and the CRC was pretty busy (100+ cabin crew and 50+ groundstaff / managers). Everyone seemed in a good, but slightly reserved, mood with most just talking more quietly than usual. I got the impression that this was sort of in recognition of the severity of the situation and the underlying tensions. Many crew worried about the reaction of striking "friends" when they found out.
Spoke to a few managers and support staff. They said that the attendance figures were slightly better than yesterday (55% vs 52%) but that they had no chance of predicting how many crew would turn up for each flight. For example, only 3 turned up for Saturday's HKG (lucrative trip) whilst some of the African destinations (not lucrative) had almost full complements. Work that one out!
Anyway, we had more than enough cabin crew, so 3 of us were reallocated duties (back to the hotel for me) and one volunteer pilot was sent home - with 3 of them operating. I left just before the briefing started for real and as there was no CSD or PSR, the most senior crew member was asked to work up - with no notice. I hope she was ok as she looked a little shell-shocked.
So, I add my voice to those than can confirm that crew are coming to work and that things seem to be running well. One thing that I think is a shock to the crew that do turn up is that all the B777's are going with 8 crew only due to the reduced service and need to man as many flights as possible. I could see the stirrings of "but we can't do that" in the eyes of one or two but then acceptance seemed to kick in and no-one actually voiced an objection.
Finally, crewing are waiting until literally check-in time to see how many crew have reported and then allocate / send home the CC and volunteer pilots as required. This takes up 10 minutes of your normal briefing time.