Re: Willie Walsh's CC plans
Cabin crew get paid extra according to how long a sector is. As you pass certain thresholds you trigger a box payment. The payments are based upon actual sector length rather than planned length. The shorthaul equivalent is the CAT payment. They require about 3.5 hours for a turnaround at LHR, but will reduce to about 2 if they go to the Central Area Turnaround (CAT) lounge and get a CAT payment. Again these payments are based on achieved, not planned schedule. This is why often the first words the pilots will hear from the cabin crew are not "Hello" but "We need to be 20 minutes late".