So here we go again, its getting tedious but I'll add some facts to the debate.
JW411 - note I used the word 'crash'. You can hardly count Manchester as that, as I'm sure you'll recall it was an on ground incident with not a great deal the crew could do given the indications available to them and common operating practices of the day. Fact is we still haven't flown into any mountains for a long time and thats got rather more to do with the flight crew. Perhaps it is tempting fate to say things like that, but so be it. Maybe we've been lucky and others have not, but it seems the more we practice the luckier we get. Poor old CAL seem to be having a lot of strife lately, and I don't think thats down to bad luck.
Now the C4 documentary. Its been covered exhaustively on this forum before but to recap the key points:-
C4 could make an equally damning expose of your airline given unlimited time and money to follow and film crews, and total freedom to edit footage, dub your words and misrepresent times, places and actual events.
C4 filmed over 200 hours of video footage, yet only 23 mins was considered worthy of airtime, much of that being dubbed.
At the end of thorough disciplinary investigation, only 2 pilots (I think) were found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed. A third resigned, although having (allegedly) been romantically involved with the protagonist previously he had been singled out for attention and followed on several occasions. Over 100 pilots were filmed, only 3 had commited serious wrongdoing.
You clearly believe an Airbus flies itself, yet there are plenty of detractors who'll point to smoking holes the world over where A320s have met their demise. Its still just an aircraft, despite the absence of a yoke, and a particularly slippery high performance aircraft that will get you in a lot of trouble very quickly if you don't stay on top. I don't know what you fly, but I chose not to say its a piece of cake when I no nothing about it.
Perhaps you think Sabena pilots are lazy, therefore so are BA pilots. Well at the last comparison I seem to remember we were doing twice as many block hours per month, so I suggest if you have that opinion then it is flawed. Furthermore your friend sounds like he has a very large chip on his shoulder seeing as he tars all SN pilots with the same brush rather than assess each individual on his merits.
My question to you - do you actually know any current BA pilot, or do you base all you opinions on the prejudices aired on this board and the jaundiced views of your long retired BA 747 Captain friend, who quite probably flew in a BA that he wouldn't recognise today.
SBA - Your points in turn-
Yes, pilots across the UK are losing their jobs, mostly in the IT sector with some in VS and BM. BALPA seems to be of the opinon that these job losses are due to knee jerk reactions by airline accountants and the sudden rehiring spree and suspension of redundancies support that view. Yet the low cost carriers need pilots faster than they can hire them, and are paying good rates. BA on the other hand are pleading poverty, yet flying chock full aircraft all over Europe, often with excellent business class loads, yet frequently paying their pilots comparable or lower wages than low cost carriers. If the company is losing money its not our fault, nor do I intend to subsidise the failings of other departments from my own pay packet.
There has been no call for industrial action for the thousands of ground staff laid off by BA because 9 months on from 911 BA has not laid anybody off. There has not been a single compulsory redundancy. We still have 18000 managers, and were still losing money hand over fist, just like we were before 911. And don't forget that some of those ground staff earn considerable sums. Tug drivers earning more than junior co-pilots? Managers reassinged from Waterside to LHR customer services on full pay? Some BA pilots enjoy amongst the best pay and conditions in the country, but the majority of short haull could achieve an equivalent package on their current aircraft elsewhere pension excluded (and that is under threat), ask any new DEP. If BA were really in deep we'd have seen real redundancies and not Manpower Equivalent Reductions. Interestingly the Future Size and Shape document only called for an MPE reduction of about 200 pilots to be achieved through retirement in the coming year, recognising the fact that we barely have enough pilots to cover the reduced schedule.
As for franchises, Rod has stated he is against franchises in principal. They were largely a product of the Ayling era. The theory of a franchise is they develop routes that are too lean for mainline, then when the routes grow mainline take them back and the franchise develop new routes. The problem with transferring all work to franchises is you then get less revenue than you did before but still have to support the massive corporate infrastructure upon fewer routes and it just doesn't work. As I have stated countless times before, flight crew costs are just 13% of BAs total labour costs (BAs own figures) and reducing year on year due to the retirement bulge. Slashing a third of the flight crew wont dent the enormous losses we're making. As for the reduced terms and conditions, having heard from some recently retired skippers who now work for a major franchise I'd gladly accept the increase in basic pay and the slashing of the number of sectors I do each month.
I consider it a great shame that you consider that our claim stems from greed, though I would be interested to hear your opinions on the recent 20% pay rise awarded to NHS consultants as part of a reform of their anachronistic pay system.
The simple fact is that despite the vitriol and hyperbole often directed at BA pilots, wages have declined significantly in real terms whilst productivity has increased hugely. Pay rises have been RPI or less, whilst the cost of living within travelling distance of our home base has risen almost exponentially. These modest increases have been accepted whilst other departments in the company have seen significantly higher rises without delivering productivity improvements. Goodwill has been squandered by management. Pilots have been told theres no more money available whilst staffing levels have sky rocketed and profits plummeted. We've been told 'market rate', yet our 737 trainers are being poached by low cost carriers. The majority of BA pilots are not paid in excess of the market rate and when compared to our european counterparts are paid significantly less for significantly more work. As was mentioned in the last edition of The Log, BA don't charge any less for there tickets, why should they get away with paying less.
I think it is a measure of our conservatism as a group that people take the time to try to explain our case on these forums. However, when the time comes the key point will be that our pay is our business and I really don't care what the Daily Mail or anyone else thinks I earn because they're not paying my bills. BA will pay as little as it can. If our rise breaks BA then maybe we'll talk about a pay cut later, but even an enormous 20% rise only adds 2.6% to the total labour bill, hardly bankruptcy stuff. Sensitivity be damned, because everybody in BA is renegotiating pay this year and I bet you wont find the cabin crew or MT drivers being moderate.