It is not unusual of course to operate one crewmember down through sickness or disruption.
But never out of Heathrow! The union (BASSA) won't allow it, even when it screws up the traveling public.
How shocked were our pax to hear recently, that we could 'legally' depart one crew member down, but BASSA wouldn't allow it! Hence a one hour delay on stand awaiting a further crew member! How shocked also were the cabin crew to hear their restrictive practices revealed in a PA to the customers they would be sharing the next hour with!
My response? Why
wouldn't we tell the pax the true reason for their delay??
We were even told the a/c would be recalled to stand if we attempted to depart with perfectly legal (though not 'industrial') crew numbers! (Even
with the agreement of the crew!!) Such is the current stranglehold of BASSA. Enough is enough!
This lead me to ask, who is running this airline? And for whose benefit? It certainly doesn't seem to be for the fare-paying public!!
CRM in BA in a 'few' respects is already a joke. Just read the BASSA website (as I do!) to see the reality!
All power to the excellent majority of our cabin crew who live and work in the real world! Some of whom have posted here.