I'll have to slightly distance myself from KC135777.
Its very frustrating to do all you can and see nobody there on the ramp.
For sure there are some really rotten elements in all departments that believe earning a wage for cock all work is the norm. (even in flight ops thats the case)
However BA has stripped all the fat of the meat and there is not a lot of flex in the system when 'certain' forces act upon it.
LHR_777 it's not as rosy a picture you are painting of ground staff.....
for example: push scheduled right before shift change. push truck there, tug connected, a/c about to push back. small failure leads to a 10min delay. push crew buggers off since it's shift change. UN bloody believeable. Not my aisle mate is the simple answer....
@CaptJ: obviously you've missed a lot of background information on this issue. The support is there from the employees (ai pilots) to make OpenSkies a success. But would you be happy with setting up a seperate company under your banner with the potential to eventually replace you or forced to take different T&C's (Jetstar-Qantas)... I think not.
Many of our business passengers are happy with the service they get and rank our crews as a major reason to fly BA.
We want BA to succeed but not over the back of their own employees when we've given up so much over the last 10yrs or so. ai pension, increased flying hours (to the max allowed), work bidding arrangements etc etc the list goes on.
We indeed put nothing in the way of success for OpenSkies. It's why many of us can not understand what BA are playing it. Obviously up to something