Originally Posted by
hunterboy
There does seem to be a lot of naivety displayed here. As much as BA may want you to think you are joining a big happy family, I’m afraid that hasn’t been the case for many years. You will be regarded as a cost. Many years ago, pilots were historically treated as quasi managers in terms of terms and conditions. That was firmly stopped in 2009 with the Staff travel rewrite.
Many of our colleagues also believed that we were “professionals” with a firm contract. Again, we have been disabused of that notion. We are simply “piece-workers” as this unpaid stand-down has showed. You aren’t available to work, or we don’t have work for you to do? We stop paying you.
BA is still an attractive place to work (compared to many of the other airlines), but come in with your eyes open, and be aware that on the day you join, you will have the best T&C’s that you will ever enjoy, as it will all be downhill from there.
This isn’t meant to sound negative, just be aware of what you are joining , and how IAG and the BA board will do its upmost to strip the earnings out of the company, which directly affects your salary and lifestyle. Ask around how high CAP’s are and how many days are spent at work. It is relentless. As many find out at, say EJ or RY, it isn’t sustainable over a 30 year career.
I can guarantee pretty much everyone who’s even stuck an application into BA, never mind actually got an offer, has spoken to someone who either works there or knows someone who does, usually coupled with a myriad of captains at our current airlines telling us we’re stupid for doing it. We know what we’ve let ourselves in for, we know we’re just a number just like we are at EZY, RYR etc. We’re just trying to stay positive, not being naive.