Originally Posted by
Lite
Ground Bunnie, I'm very sorry to hear about your predicament, and that of other BA Connect ground staff at other bases. Is there another ground handling agent at Bristol, or is it only Servisair? There seems to be a recurring fear for ground staff I've spoken to at BHX that they'll end up back with a handling agent, which is fair enough considering that some probably started off as a CSA with a company like us (Servisair). Surely a monopoly at an airport the size of BRS can be broken with a new handling agent offering more jobs even if it's without the BA benefits.
Lite - As it stands, Servisair will have the monopoly at BRS once BACON go. As BIA handle >2m pax pa, they cannot stop any other GH agent coming in. I've had informal chats with some of the BIA management, and have been told unofficially that although some of the other GH companies have been in touch, they won't come in without having a couple of decent contracts, and the airlines there seem to want to stay with Servisair. Note my use of the words 'informal' and 'unofficially'. We don't have any more info than what is available on the BACON and Flybe websites, and we aren't even sure that Flybe will operate the BACON routes ex-BRS after March. Servisair (or any other GH company) may well need extra CS staff if there is extra business for them, and some of the current BACON CS staff are hoping this will be so. There is more of a fear that there will be no jobs, rather than a fear of working for Servisair. Most of the CS staff live locally, and would not be able to move to another airport, I guess it's the same at BHX. Personally, I started networking within an hour of getting the original announcement on 03Nov. I have a couple of verbal offers, one back at LHR with mainline BA, where I spent 20 years before coming to BRS, and another locally.
Rgds GroundBunnie