The Management has been clever, classic divide and conquer tactics, their not buying our sell so let’s tweak it a little and get the seniors to sell it for us instead.
Any company that doesn’t want to pay its staff a basic cost of living increase (without conditions) is a joke company and shouldn’t be in business in the first place.
BA the airline that VS so likes to belittle all of the time is 700 percent more profitable than Virgin. Why does BA do so much better commercially than Virgin?
Unlike BA, Virgin doesn’t compete on short haul routes with the Lo-Co’s in fact Virgin has been in the enviable position for some time of cherry picking the world’s most profitable longhaul airline routes – no excuse there.
BA pay their cabin crew a lot more and don’t have 10 national crew operating to India or the Far East on 350 pounds a month basic salary as Virgin do – no excuse there either.
Open skies? Fuel? Airport charges? The environment? – true they all cost a lot these days but BA pay the same.
So how can it be that our nearest rivals are so much more commercially efficient then we are, why can’t Virgin AFFORD to give us a modest increase at this time?
Ever thought the reason might be Virgin Atlantic MANAGEMENT. Are THEY doing their jobs terribly well?
The MANAGEMENT that has led Virgin into what was always going to be and always will be, a white elephant in Nigeria.
The MANAGEMENT that has leased in large numbers a gas guzzling Airbus with no technical input into that decision.
The MANAGEMENT that has largely ignored an economy class that is now failing.
The MAGAGEMENT that has recruited so many office staff that there are now more employees per aircraft than BA. How many receptionists’ do you really need?
The MANAGEMENT who work 3-4 days a week and fly once a month?
Etc…, etc….
It’s also very amusing to read Virgin Pilots coming on here and advise against a strike. The very same pilots who not so long ago were prepared to shut the airline down over pay at a more difficult time for the industry post 9/11. If like us they were getting knocked back at the bank for an extension to the Cotswolds pile or a bigger pool for their villas in the South of France they’d probably think twice, well meaning as I’m sure they are.
All the crew want is a modest pay rise to reflect how much dearer things become with each passing year.
With the turnover of crew here things will be a lot different in 2 years time. We’ll be starting from scratch again. By accepting this deal you’ll be letting management off the hook, we’re being asked to fund THEIR underperformance not ours.
This in my opinion is a very critical time for Virgin cabin crew and the eventual result will have lasting implications for our terms and conditions for years to come. They want us to feel guilty about asking for what is rightfully ours in the first place. Do you really think the Pilots will be asked to sacrifice when they get their RPI increase next year?
Virgin MANAGEMENT can prevent industrial action. They ball is firmly in THEIR court.