Heavy Crew wrote:
"For example skylion ( ex Bcal I presume)........ "
How did BCal sudenly become a part of this thread? What did they do to you? Remember that they, and I was one of them, were taken over by BA so have no relevence in this discussion. Maybe you're one of those that your, BA, management screwed by keeping a former BCal employee, flight or ground staff, in a position that you think you should have had. It wasn't the staff that kept BCal people where they were or 'held back' original BA staff but the BA management after discussions with the BA / BCal unions.
In my Crewing days, I'm not there any more, I used to get very worked up by the Cabin Crew 'stuffing' the airline with their apparent intrasigence regarding working ' to the rule book'. As I became older though, and I like to think wiser, I realised that it was not the fault of the unions but the fault of management for giving in to what were often seen as union demands. If therefore, as appears to be the case with the current BA issue, the management once again f**k it up then we should not be blaming the CC even though it might appear that they are being paid a great deal extra to do the job they're employed for. That just boils down to envy - we'd all like some extra if we were offered it wouldn't we? These payments are for such a short time it won't be them that drives BA out of business, god forbid, it'll be mainly down to poor management decisions over the last many years
This whole thread should really be finished - after all none of us really knows the true reasons for these payments - and even if we think we do we're not going to a) stop them or b) get the CC bosses reprimanded for incompetance.
I've not always been known for supporting crews, or unions for that matter, but I really don't think we should hammer either because after all, whatever the reasons, it's the management that make the final decisions so we should be aiming any abuse (verbal only) at them.
Brgds
Ps. Although I no longer work for BA they are very much my airline of choice whenever I travel on business, which is quite frequently. Most CC appear to be very good at their jobs, although I'd not presume to suggest that I'm in a position to judge them because I've never been CC myself, just travelled a lot and drunk with many over the last 34 years.