Staff Travel is non-contractural
But ........ nevertheless it was always understood that it was to be available, unless removed for disciplinary reasons, even in retirement, for life.
WW required some cost cutting within S.T. so after 3 years of negotiations, with the union and retired staff representatives sworn to a Confidentiality Agreement, i.e. a secrecy clause, staff travel was made available to more people with the introduction of Staff Travel 2009.
Staff - and former staff, because now it is no longer necessary to be in receipt of a pension to qualify for staff travel after employment ceases - can now change their nominated 'partner' - of either sex - every 6 months, instead of the previous 12 months wait, so if you fall out with your 'partner' you can choose another one fairly quickly ! Some former staff now also qualify for confirmed 'free' trips after only 20 years service, whereas most of us had to work 30 years to qualify for that - I wonder why !
To realise whatever 'saving' the management reckoned that they were making, they kicked out those pensioners, and yes, I'm one, whose time in retirement had exceeded their time in employment - a new rule - retrospectively, with immediate effect, the secrecy agreement ensured that we had no knowledge of what was about to hit us when S.T. 2009 was published.
Those hit hardest are the longest retired, and therefore the oldest and least able to re-adjust, many chose their retirement locations on the expectation, if not actually contractual, of being able to return home to visit family from time to time, albeit with the restrictions of standby and all that entails, but not now, thanks to Willie, who has to thank those he has so unceremoniously kicked out for him even having an airline to control today.
Many go back to the early origins of BOAC and BEA, and retired many, many, years ago. I leave it to your imagination what value their pensions are today, out of which they will now have to find full commercial fares.
For readers who are not BA employees, I make no apology, many concerns give advantages to their employees and pensioners, and whatever the justification for that principle, or not, what is not justified is the way the older pensioners have been kicked out of BA concessional travel privileges. Remember, we only occupy otherwise empty seats, and our reduced fare helps pay the new Carbon Tax that has to be met whether the aircraft is full or empty.
The only sop to us has been a reluctant agreement to delay the excommunication until 1st April 2014 , "To Get Used To It" - their words,at which time I will no longer have any interest in BA, and will actively work to destroy it if I can if WW is still in charge, he won't get a cent of my money and I will not advise any friends to travel BA.
Bitter, you bet.