Striking is a serious business and action will not be taken lightly I guess. However, with the global economic turmoil, is it wise to rock the boat to such a degree. The Openskies airline is surely an insurance policy for BA economically. It is a seperate brand to mainline BA and gives BA PLC a foot hold in Europe and the skies to the states.
LHR is at capacity now, always loads of delays and because expansion is not likely in the near future,it is unlikely to improve. Punters will go via Europe instead to avoid delays and expense. BA have to be a part of it to maintain their presence on the Atlantic routes.
I am sure most BA pilots would not want to fly it as the rosters will be very different to what they are use to. What about having a mixture of direct entry and also BA retirees to keep a weather eye on things and to dilute the mix of non BA people, not that I think that is necessary, there are a lot of good professional pilots out there in the world who may bring newer ideas to the think tank?
I do not see BA diluting the brand at all, it is a seperate entity.