Hey all.
This is my first post on here! I'm also ex bmi crew who is now at BA short-haul LHR (4 years). It's like a reunion at BA! Is anyone left at bmi?
I think that as this is a cabin crew forum then why not talk dollars or pounds? Especially when so many of the topics on here seem to revolve around the subject of how overpaid the BA crew are....and yet the posters seem to expect the readers to guess what sort of figures are being talked about. At least people from other airlines can finally make up their own minds as to whether the 'BA crew are overpaid and underworked' or not, as many threads on here proclaim. At the end of the day, when deciding whether or not you want to work for a particular company the main thing it boils down to is the dosh.
I don't think the fact that we are paid well and have good conditions are anything to be ashamed of. I certainly don't think we (well most of us...ouch!!) are overpaid, I think our pay represents the contribution our cabin crew make to annual profits of £525 million. I don't reckon I would be coming to work with the same positive attitude I have, if I was being paid rubbish to do 4 sector days every day.
monkeyhead, I would say go for BA without a seconds hesitation. I can say that on 4 years of short-haul I have never taken home less than £1500 after tax/deductictions unless i've had annual leave that month. I think the £500 stated on the ba jobs website is the real real real minimum you could possibly earn. Maybe you would have to do a full month of 2 sector days on earlies and not a single night-stop to earn that!
I can also honestly say I have never had a duty that pays the £6 're-freshment' allowence (better known as 'charity flight' lol). They do exisit, but only applies to dutys where you check-in after 13:01 and clear before 19:59 (so land before 18:59). As i'm sure you could work out for yourself there are few flights that fall into those parameters.
Again, I don't feel guilty about talking about figures. I believe BA saves money in other ways, such as low turnover. I mean, when was they last time you ever heard anyone at BA talking about leaving to go to another airline? Never! At bmi, 'who was recruiting' was the basis of conversation everyday and you were top of the crew list by the time you had been there 6 months!
Cheap labour doesn't always mean low cost, profit making machine. This year bmi made a small profit (I think about £9 million?) after four years of losses.