JW411, Thanks for the support. I would not wish to make any presumptions regarding whose job is the more difficult as it is horses for courses, and I certainly would not like to cast any doubt over the professionalism of BA or any other operator.
The point I was trying to make was that in my view it defies belief that in the current climate BA pilots are crying for industrial action over pay and conditions. Pilots throughout the UK have suffered pay cuts at best and redundancy in many cases. BA is on its knees and has made thousands redundant, arguably through no fault of their own.
This thread was put forward on a public forum rather than a BA private forum (I assume they have one) and I can only guess that this was with the intention of airing grievances in the public domain. If you do that, then you leave yourself open to criticism from those who disagree. I have no axe to grind with BA or their pilots, despite the accusations levelled by Leslie and Hand Solo, but the contents of this thread in the public domain discredit the whole profession which does extend beyond LHR terminal 4.
Had there been a call for industrial action over the thousands of BA ground staff laid off post 11/9, you would have had my full support, however, not a murmur on that front as they were not pilots so presumably don't matter. How do you think they feel hearing that the pilots, who already enjoy amongst the best pay and conditions in the country, want more?
Land ASAP, you seem to be suggesting that the Sabena pilots all just moved into other positions and therefore it didn't matter much to them that the carrier went under. DAT, who you quote as employing many of the Sabena pilots was a franchise operator for Sabena with a lower cost base and inferior pay and conditions for aircrew than the former mainline pilots. So there is Mr. Eddingtons perfect business plan. Shut down the mainline short haul operations with its huge cost base and obvious labour problems and transfer the whole lot to a franchisee (GB for example). The pilots can have their jobs back if they want under reduced terms and conditions. That is pretty much what has happened in Belgium.
So despite the accusations of envy and bitterness, If BA have a genuine grievance then I wish them the best of luck in their claims, but the water allowance and ground transport issues suggest to the outside world that the motivation for these claims is nothing but sheer greed.