Most of the points raised about BA are absolutely true.
There is no point in drawing comparisons against the "heady days" of max allowances, final salary pensions and hardly any flying. The commercial world has changed both inside and outside of aviation. People work harder, have less time at home and don't have the security of guaranteed pensions anymore. Go and spend 6 months working as a manager in another industry and you will come running back to BA unless you have become thoroughly disillusioned with flying in general. Most of my non flying and flying friends who work for other airlines would gladly swap seats with me.
I enjoy working for BA as the salary is good, route variation maintains your interest, bidline allows you to build your own roster, a/c are well maintained, seniority is honoured, I only work about 15 days a month, cockpit culture allows far more involvement in the the flight than many other airlines, good career prospects and most importantly of all - job security (well as much as you can in this industry). After 9/11 many airlines laid off pilots without a second thought. Including Virgin, which we all love to use as a yardstick. BA kept all their pilots employed, even if some were re-deployed elsewhere. The point is, they could still feed their family and pay the mortgage. Airlines that appear to offer more can take this away in a heartbeat and leave you high and dry. I'm not staying BA has any loyalty, employee compassion, or ethics - it doesn't! Some of these militant outdated agreements to which many people allude whilst generally being archaic do have one or two positive clauses in them.
However, I can't disagree with any of the negative points raised either. The trick with LHR is to just do the best you can and switch off the moment it goes beyond your control. As for management: piss up and brewery spring to mind. If you want a better pension, put some of the extra salary away or use the time off to work PT from home and gain a 2nd income - I do. Many people talk about time to command and how its so much shorter in other airlines. Ask yourself why. Most pilots stay at BA. I never became a pilot just so I could massage my ego with 4 stripes, make myself feel important and try to impress friends at dinner parties - get a life! Do you want £70k as the skipper of a lo-cost 737 on a multi sector day, multiple there and back Canaries and Greek islands all summer with a charter carrier. Or do you want a similar package, less flying, less fatigue, more family time and less stress as an SFO on one of the Boeing fleets in BA? Unless your life is not complete with those extra stripes I know where I woud rather be. I'll take the command when it eventually arrives.
The bottom line is that I enjoy working at BA. It is less stressful than any other job I have ever done. I get paid to fly a nice aircraft, eat food, read the paper and enjoy the view. By the time I get onto the crew bus at the end of a duty I am already switching off and once in the car, I honestly struggle to remember what I've done for the last few days. Thats it in a nutshell. My wife says it is the least stressed she has seen me for 10 years. Treat it as a job, keep your outside interests, find a nice hobby or 2nd job and make sure you see family and friends with all that time off. BA is very worthwhile if you make the effort to have a life. Despite your best efforts this is not always that easy to achieve in other airlines. At least I have a choice in BA.
"Don't wait for your boat to come in, row out and meet it" (Got that off one of those pretentious desktop calendars a few years ago - but it sounds appropriate for this thread!)
Here endeth todays lesson.