I always read this thread as it has made me realise how lucky I am in a lot of respects. I've never dared post as I do not feel qualified to comment at what is going on at BA with your T&C's.
I do however feel qualified to comment on the service aspect on 319 with minimum crew. As a previous pax with BA I can also comment on the service on the JER.
Our 319's fly with 4 crew as we have 156 seats although that is always continually under the management microscope..... proposed plans to remove 1 row so we can come down to 150 and therefore 3 crew do the rounds quite often.
I have however done a AMS - LGW with 3 crew. That is a 45 minute flight. On that flight (146 pax) we achieved a full service by our standards, a tax free sales service and the sale of the Gatwick express tickets. Nobody was missed out as we worked as a co -ordinated team. It can be done!
I have experienced the BA "service" from JER and there seemed to be around 5/6 crew on this 737 although I was not counting. A member of crew rushed through the cabin on duty free and appeared pretty p
ed if she was bothered for a sale and I did bother her therefore increasing BA's revenue on board
My poorly cooked bacon roll was literally plonked in front of me with a very brusque request of my drink from the very limited choice. All this is from our flag carrier!!
FlyBe do the JER service so much better and they do it on only
2 crew!! if their aircraft had more seats then they would do it on 3 no doubt. I fly with them all the time now and on the JER I am a frequent flyer.
In terms of safety on this route......on the BA flight I did the Pu did the cabin secure whilst she was collecting rubbish. Once she had collected my rubbish I then fastened my seatbelt, put my seatback up right and my bag under the seat in front. She didn't ask me to do any of this and nobody checked I did. Also nobody knew i was crew.....enough said I feel.
BA cannot manage their current service and safety requirements on their current crew compliment on a short flight and I speak as an informed SLF here. So what are they going to do when they have the legal minimum?