Good luck to all you "Boys and Girls" that sit at the front end with regard to this fight....I only wish my own union in Engineering was as strong as you are!....Over the past few years,(since 9-11 ),our own T&Cs have been eroded/steam-rollered over on many occasions,all in the name of "progress/cost efficiency etc etc.......Only recently have BA management, in some respects,"woken up" to the fact that a demoralised workforce is not good for business.....In our case many of the younger engineers BA spent thousands of £££ training,have simply "jumped ship",to persue other careers,which has basically left our area with a workforce consisting of a few guys in thier mid 40s and a whole lot of techs who are probably nearer to putting "one foot in the grave",than picking up a 787 licence!!.
Shortsightedness,coupled with KPIs/Bonuses is a BA management trait at the present time and it just may be that a bust up between BAs pilots and Wee Willie may bring them back down to earth!,(although reading on the CC forum about the outcome of thier previous dispute),probably not!!
With regard to the future of "Open Skies",several posts on here have alluded to the fact that BA may purchase 787s,(once Boeing have learned how to glue them together properly),for this venture?.....Forgive me if i am wrong,but won't BA be starting to offload the 767 fleet at around the same time......Nearly all of them are ETOPS rated...Have a 3 class configuration complete with Avod....all that would be needed would be a lick of paint on the outside and "hey presto" Open Skies" doubles in capacity!!
Looking on the bright side....If you guys and gals do actually have a bust up for a few days,at least the ADD count should have reduced by the time you all return,spares permitting!!
Good Luck to one and all