Re: Willie Walsh's CC plans
I did a FCO there and back not long ago and the Captain had been force drafted. He happily told us that he was getting a GRAND for 8 hours work. He also told us that the 3 day trip he had on volontary draft was going to pay for his skiing holiday.
Just to clarify something for some of the people who post here without having a clue what they are talking about, CAT payments do not exist! We are not paid for going to the CAT lounge. They are Short Turnaround Payments and we will continue to get them in T5 unless there is a major change in agreements. Even if, as threatened, we start getting fixed link, we will still be getting the payment.
As for the bit about CSDs and pursers on A321 and 757, I have to agree there that it is not neccesary to have 2 senior crew on those aircraft. Last time I worked with a purser at the back of a 757 it was a disaster, he simply didn't have a clue what to do as he wasn't used to an economy service, we could have coped much better alone as we usually do.