Flyglobespan and JAL are not anywhere near the size of BA.
Ah, swallowed the BASSA mantra again!
JAL are considerably bigger than BA and I would be fairly certain that their employees would, 2 years ago, have been certain the company couldn't go bankrupt. Globespan were telling the media and their employees the day before that everything was fine, not to do so would have killed forward bookings and driven the airline into bankruptcy far quicker.
If you were to look back over the past decade and factor out the bankruptcy protection that the US carriers have enjoyed then the actual airlines flying today would be quite different. It is only the ability to adapt quickly which enables companies to survive.
The cabin crew are enjoying broadly similar terms to those they had in the 1980's. When an economy return ticket to Manchester could cost up to £500 in and era when landing/navigation fees were cheaper, fuel was cheaper, handling fees were cheaper and taxes were cheaper. Compare that to the squeeze on revenue and thus yield we have now. Can BASSA really justify its approach of 'not listening long enough that the bad men will go away'? Or, 'It's ok coz in a few years it will all be nice and rosy again so we only need to stamp our feet and throw our toys out of the cot until then, then we can tell you all I told you so'?
The cost base of the company compared to the revenue stream is too high. It has been too high for too long. If the cost base is not brought down to a manageable level then investment in new aircraft, routes and personnel cannot take place. If that is the case then, ultimately, the engineering and depreciation and running cost bases start to accelerate out of control as the inability to replace aircraft causes an astronomical increase in running costs.
EasyJet and Ryanair have profited over the past couple of years by cutting costs to the bone and rapidly fluctuating their ticket prices. I don't fora moment suggest that BA go down that route but the cost base MUST be reduced and the department with the biggest overhead to return is IFcE.
Time for change. Time for BASSA to realise that the other departments, the other employees, the traveling public, the general public and, in many cases, the DOT and the Government are not behind what is, in the midst of a recession and the highest unemployment figures for years, a petulant hissy fit over nothing.