Here's a quote:
" If we are to survive the winter, we must cut our costs dramatically. "
This was the BEA Chairman in his Christmas message the 1947 edition of the internal magazine.
British Airways shorthaul operation has a long legacy of high costs to overcome that has not been resolved since then and I doubt anyone here on PPRUNE has the solution - although there are already many offers!
Nothing that BA managers or staff do (or refuse to do) short of closing the shorthaul operation down can ever be as powerful as the market forces that decide whether or not passengers will fly with BA. Passengers vote with their feet at the slightest provocation but over time, will drift back again.
It is price, the schedule and convenience that makes people come back to BA and, dare I say it, the service on board which, compared to some other high-profile carriers, including oneworld members, is often a breath of fresh air.
So for sure, the airline will continue to introduce productivity measures and staff will continue to resist. But even if they take their eye off the ball and ignore the travelling public whilst squabbling amongst themselves, travellers who defect will eventually drift back once the airline resolves it's latest spat.
The question is will this be in enough numbers and in a short enough time to keep the shorthaul operation viable and will the end result justify the squabbles?
Perhaps the answer is to halt the shorthaul operation, take a hit on the profit, make the productivity changes they want, put the rosters they want in place, change salary structures and career paths, remove some senior CC positions and relaunch as a low-cost full service carrier and restart operations.
Either way, passengers will defect but this way, the end result may well be better for everyone.
