Yes. I believe the average executive (involved with finance, so that would include the CEO, CFO, Finance Director, Corporate Controller, Commercial Operations, etc.) does know more about finance and running an airline than the average pilot (just based strictly on the naive and down incorrect comments made by pilots in this thread). That's not to say that this applies to all pilots, cause most aren't in this thread and many probably do have the knowledge. But it isn't being displayed in this thread.
So all management folks are now dirty bastards. I mean really, if you guys hate the folks who run the airlines so much, why are you in this business? I know I couldn't work for an industry, much less a company, where I hated the top executives that much.
In any event. I still don't think there will be a strike. Mainly because I believe folks will realize that a strike will only lessen the amount available to shore up the pension. BA is doing okay now. A strike will change that.
To the guy who said that the English people are very patient. I disagree. They aren't. BA's numbers have shown that. People still have not come back to the airline since the last disruption. And it's not just about the English. What about Continental Europe and the Americans, who all fly BA (particularly the business between London and North America....where the bread and butter comes from). Folks are staying away from London because of the security precautions and this is having an effect on BA.
Management WILL offer less should the pilots go on strike. I think they see this as a do or die moment for BA and sadly that puts them in the driver seat of negotiations. Can BA offer more than £500 million? Probably. Management would be stupid to put their best offer on the table first. However, if someone thinks that BA has £2 billion just laying around AND the additional cash required going forward to continue to pay the ever increasing pension costs, then they are fooling themselves. The writing is on the wall (and has been for some time now). There will be significant changes to the plan, whether the pilots strike or not. And definitely the other guys (cabin/ground crew) won't be joining any strike. Anyone who thinks that is living in a dream. But I could be wrong. I guess we'll see.
So when exactly are the pilots planning on striking? Discussions have been going on for a while now. Has the line been drawn in the sand yet (in terms of a date to end discussions)?
LonBA