Wayward, you beat me to it!
As Amazon so rightly said, we didn't seek this BAR merger. It is being forced upon us and is the reason some of us will be disadvantaged in promotional terms (BACE crews know what I'm talking about as its been on our company forum for over a week now).
However let's look at the bigger picture. MAX PROFIT from every route is one of the priorities right now. One half full Airbus or 737 may mean a minimal operating profit. Put an Embraer on the route and it's now full and operating at MAX PROFIT!!! GET IT?
Yes it's only a baby plane in your mind but it CAN do what is required (and it pains me to say that as BACE crews will know!).
The other facts about BAR operating on schedule better than us as Hovis corrected me... I've only got my facts (if they are facts) from BAR dispatchers. We've been told in the past that if they exit the aircraft and shut the door at STD then we're 'ON TIME' by their rules. Perhaps flight crew are told that 'brakes off' time is what counts, but not in our books. If I release the brakes with a tug attached and don't leave stand for another 10 minutes then my passengers think I'm late (they're right). I didn't want to get into a slanging match about on-time or not, but I won't accept incorrect assumptions that BAR are doing the job so much better than us. WE ARE NOT THE INFERIOR PRODUCT THAT SOME OF YOU IMPLY. We strive to better you at every opportunity and that's just from pride in our work (perhaps some could learn a lesson from this).
As a whole I want BA to succeed; 3 of my family are employed in differing branches of BA / BA subsidiaries so I'm viewing this all with a balanced opinion.
LET'S MUCK TOGETHER AND DIG OURSELVES OUT OF THIS SH*THOLE THAT TOP-LEVEL MANAGEMENT HAVE BURIED US IN OVER RECENT YEARS!
[edited for minor mis-spelling due drunkenness! (I'll bet there are others I won't spot till the morning!)]
[ 11 October 2001: Message edited by: rhythm method ]