Whilst I have no doubt that one or two of these tales have an element of truth, (by the way, I have been at LHR for three years now), exaggeration and urban myth have no doubt embellished the tales!
I have heard some outlandish tales about pilots over the years - "Did you knowm Flight XYZ was cancelled yesterday because the Captain refused to fly it. His wife rocked up at the airport 15 mins before departure and, when she was refused at check-in, the captain went home sick!" All of the stories I have heard, including that one, were untrue.
.............How about the Gatwick pilots who refused to share the BA minibus wih the Cabin Crew for a Sunday Bournemouth charter service because a BALPA agreement said they were entitled to a limousing from Guy Salmon? Was this true, or not? We never knew.
For sure, there's the odd militant bit of behaviour. The crew, for example, who were put into a New York motel used by prostitutes to save the company cash and were kept awake all night by the nocturnal noises. Quite rightly, they refused dutty next day as they had not had sufficient rest, but that incident caused quite a storm.
All the little bits of tittle-tattle serve to divide our communities - a situation which serves the management very nicely. "Divide and Conquer" - the old management dictate at BA for years!
All of us must stand shoulder to shoulder and tell Walsh and Broughton exactly where they get off this bus to nowhere. If my £16,500 + Shift Pay (giving me just over £20K) is cut, then personally it doesn't bother me in the slightest whether British Airways survives or not, apart from losing my rather pathetic pension and a small shareholding. Indeed, if my salary is frozen for another year, I shall have to seek an alternative career! Maybe this is what our esteemed leadership team have in mind?
I refuse to be drawn into bashing staff from other departments or listening to bad-mouthing of others. I take people as I find them and I have always enjoyed good relations with Flight Crews and Cabin Crew alike. Equally, I am happy to share rest facilities with the Ramp Staff. All of us pull together for BA and we are all thoroughly pi55ed off with Willie for attempting to pull us all down!
..........A fine reward for our help in turning T5 around don't you think?