Nigel, may I suggest Va te fais enculer!
Speaking as a franchisee unfortunately bought by BA, thereby fulfilling most of the conditions you deny to GSS, we are all too well aware what BA are really like. Our successful Company was immediately told it was losing money, was packed with BA second-raters, had more management jobs created overnight than most of us had ever heard of, and its morale plummetted.
GSS - be very grateful indeed you are NOT a franchisee. You prove once again that you can make a healthy profit doing the same task which BA were unable to achieve successfully. BA as ever are jealous
and insist on trying to remove the laurels, to load you with their people, (who they interestingly enough admit are only there because they are greedy bar stewards
). There's no winning is there. Be grateful they at least haven't sadled you with their managers or trainers - that is truly dire!
Joe, Nigel's sally regarding using their own frieghters or cancelling your contract is baloney. If BA were able to make money at it, they would not have outsourced the task in the first place. BA were pretty good at long haul pax ops when they were BOAC. They remain pretty good at it (if you can stomach the world's most arrogant cabin crew lol
). However, they have proved to be a signal failure at everything else they have attempted...er, London Eye excepted (although Ayling WAS involved in the Dome, whih kind cancels the Eye out I guess). So there you have it. Look on the bright side - you don't depend on any of their militant and useless ancillaries, from LHR checkin to er, dare I mention catering......
The woolly pully will be recruiting soon, and so will the other competition - just wait till lo-cost becomes long haul. BA is a dinosaur, and an inefficient one at that.
Good luck Joe, remember, never depend on the integrity of a BA manager, or the morality and ethics of a BA BALPA CC.
Apre moi le deluge!