Re: BA pilots 'prepared to strike'
As I said before, we're not irreplaceable, but we are irreplaceable in a hurry. It's illegal in the UK to selectively sack workers engaged in a legal strike. Thats means if WW wants heads to roll during a strike he'll have to see 2500heads rolling, meaning most of his long haul pilots, all of his short haul Captains and most of the FOs too. With few TREs remaining he's going to be hard pressed to get any sizeable service up and running to the satisfaction of the CAA before BA has either gone bust or cancelled so many services that they fail to meet the 80% utilisation requirement for their LHR slots and lose lots of those. Step forward bmi to rightfully claim them and you're left with a BA with a rag tag collection of hurriedly trained pilots, many of whom will be inexperienced on type, a public image in tatters and a whole load of strategically vital LHR slots lost for good.
Did I mention if he sacks staff for striking then it's illegal for him to employ anyone to replace them for 90 days? Even Gate Gourmet fell foul of that one! Do you think that BA will be able to wet lease enough capacity to cover the operation for three months, and do you think they'll still have any customers left when Mr Business Class pitches up and finds his flat bed to ORD has been replaced by an aging sardine tine operated by AAI?