And where did BA's gross indebtedness come from in the first place? Could it be that a previous "here today, gone tomorrow" Chief Exec wasted millions upon millions on a scheme to compete with National Airlines on their own turf by buying companies that bled cash from the start?
Could it possibly be that the millions thrown at Deutsche BA, TAT, etc etc were a series of staggering white elephants?
Could it possibly be that BA staff are now required to pay for this folly by surrendering their economic futures to enable BA to buy shiny new planes, something BA could easily have done had not hubris overtaken the previous-but-one incumbant of the head-honcho slot, and a culture of absolute power grown up around the "sun-king" so that not a soul dared challenge the ever-more preposterous schemes? (Tailfins being but one example).
Could it be that, when asked about this at the start of the Great Pension Theft Proposal, the then-finance director was alleged to have said:
'Oh well, BA was said then to be "undergeared" (borrowed) at the time, so of course we took on more debt'?
So it could be, then, that BA is employing classic mill-owner practises now by in effect saying:
"Run the machinery faster and blame the workers"? (900 hours a year the legal absolute maximum flightcrew flying hours limits, and BA's accepted rostering target for crews).
We all know where BA's problems arose. To be blamed for them now is more than cynical, and is about to bring the company to its knees. Less spin, more engagement and some honesty and humilty would be but a start in the process of re-building a once-great company. Is tie-less Willie going to embrace even a shred of this agenda?
Of course not. Good for you, WW:
'No Surrender'
as they say in your parts, I am told.
Don't give in to those Bolshevik Scum , your Staff. Ram it down their throats, to the whoops and cheers of the city boys, egging you on.
Good luck WW. You will need every ounce of it you can find. Your proposal is born in arrogance, laced with personal greed and doomed to fail.