View Full Version : BA 1 Doom Mongers 0
52049er
20th May 2003, 03:29
BA back in profit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3039027.stm)
<Sits back, cracks open a beer and awaits the flames> :)
maxy101
20th May 2003, 03:52
Seems Ba are heading in the right direction though! Has anyone missed the 10,000 people that have gone? Were they necessary in the first place?
Boeing 7E7
20th May 2003, 04:08
Now that they're back in profit, will they be recruiting pilots before long? Or has this "future size and shape"still got a long way to run before they need them?
No doubt it would help everyone if they did. It would put pressure on other airlines in the uk who would otherwise loose pilots to BA from constantly chipping away at their salaries and terms and conditions. Not the members of the board's of course, but just the humble empoyees. Not to mention put a smile on the faces of those who would want to join them!
M.Mouse
20th May 2003, 04:32
As I understand it from somebody who knows recruitment is just around the corner due normal retirements.
Recruitment might be the flames. Any new pilot will be hired on a new pension scheme. According to BA NAPS, the final salary scheme, is closed to new entrants. Balpa and the current BA flight crew don't agree that this is a good idea. There may be trouble ahead...
Konkordski
20th May 2003, 05:08
Has anyone missed the 10,000 people that have gone?
How many of them were pilots? Since there's an uncharacteristic lack of outrage here, were they mere inferior beings...?
<Gets out bread, sticks it on toasting fork...>
timzsta
20th May 2003, 05:10
Who would have thought that within the space of just a couple of weeks BA would announce a £135m profit and Easyjet a £48m loss?
As for the £200m loss in the last quarter - hardly surprisng. I think the last 3 months have been the worst ever in the history of the industry. A war in the Middle East, that was not supported throughout most of the world, high fuel costs and then the SARS virus.
Given an election in the USA in 2004, I do not think George W Bush will be starting anymore wars in the foreseeable future. To be re-elected he needs a stronger US economy, and to do that there needs to be a period of greater certainty and stability in the world. And that can only bode well for our troubled industry.
How many of them were pilots?
If it were not for the currently immense retirement rate, Pilots would have been made redundant also.
For those of us lucky to still remain, things are still very tough, and now very under manned.
No Tugs, to tug drivers, no bus drivers, not enough drivers for de-icing rigs. Not enough de-icing rigs. Empty desks everywhere. Not enough rostorers etc. The good ones are underpaid, and promptly leave. No "spare" of anything.
.... And it is going to get tougher.
L337
maxy101
20th May 2003, 15:34
L337, But wasn´t it always like that? Do you notice any difference? More importantly, are we getting the pax and their bags from A to B any less efficiently than before? It is tragic that people had to lose their jobs, however I´m sure BA´s shareholders are pleased that it is being run as a business and not a charity. Harsh, but let´s be serious, if BA had collapsed, there would have been no baleout a la Americans, French, Olympic and Iberia
jetstream7
20th May 2003, 16:45
Timzsta
Watch your details on profit/losses as you're not drawing true comparisons...
BA's profit is for the whole year, easyJet's loss for the last 6 months trading.
If you compare the 6 month performances, then BA has a loss of £175million vs easyJet's £48million loss
Both airlines figures have large exceptional cost elements , i.e. retirement of Concorde (BA), integration of Go / aborted acquisition of Deutsche BA (easyJet)
On the surface , to any casual viewer, yesterday's figures looked good for BA, whilst easyJet's figures from a few weeks ago were disappointing.
Premature speculation. And with the US and Germany running serious risk of deflation, ( = unemployment/no growth), I would sit tight - we haven't got through the tunnel yet...good for BA, but let's just keep the champagne on ice for now - we'll celebrate later.....
FlapsOne
22nd May 2003, 01:25
The BA pension fund is down by £1.2 billion according to telegraph last week.
Makes the profit look a bit insignificant!
Anti-ice
23rd May 2003, 07:24
Er yes, we are missing the 10,000 that have 'gone'.
Virtually every BA flight has at least one cabin-crew member down, and in many cases 2 or 3.
At the same time the workload has been increased, and certainly on Eurofleet it often leads to a 'photo finish' .
The company are desperate to get 3 cabin crew on the A319, of which there are now 40 in the fleet , but with a split cabin and a full service this would make the job dangerous/practically impossible.
They are trying to also drastically reduce costs further in cabin services ,which could lead to a possible 30% pay drop with the proposals for cabin crew pay. (Don't forget 40% of the cabin crew are on new entrant £9,500p.a. basic.)
Many crew facilities are now automated , and a new rostering system ensures your hours are 'maxxed' out .
However it's still a good place to be,as long as things aren't pushed much further.:ugh:
There's a long way to go yet though. . . . . . . . . .