strikers
I rarely post on Prune but this time I am going to speak up.
None of your business I hear some say but it IS my business:
a. My son-in -law, daughter and new grandson depend on BA for their living and the stupidity of this industrial action IS threatening their security when BA is struggling with economic recession not to mention ash clouds and very high fuel prices to name three. What was their loss this last financial year ?
b. I am a customer, my wife and I fly SYD-LHR in Club twice a year and we DO pay our own fare.
c. I am a shareholder.
As I see it, Walsh is addressing the urgent need to improve productivity of BA in times of ruthless competition in the airline industry. Many key employment groups in BA, including pilots, have recognized the need and come to agreements to achieve that efficiency. I understand Walsh has said that CC will NOT lose any pay but DO have to become more productive, hence the reduction in crew numbers. If the rest of BA have made concessions what is so special about cabin crew ?? Beats me.
For those CC who have not yet recognized the reality of the commercial world we live in , let me tell them they ARE seriously threatening the very existence of BA and if you think it is bullet proof remember Swissair, Sabena, Pan Am, Eastern and Ansett, not to mention Laker, Court Line, and Air Europe !
This absurd and unrealistic strike action threatens the very existence of your company and if you really would like to know what it is like to be out of a job, talk to my ex Ansett friend who went from flying a 767, a job he loved, to mowing lawns to make ends (just) meet. He will tell you the reality of it all and its not nice, not nice at all.
And another example, long after I left BA I was a Captain with Britannia. The new incoming CEO, Burnell, made it quite clear we had to improve our efficiency or go out of business. We had an option, work harder with a fleet of brand new 757s or Thomson Corp would shut us down, strike action was pointless, it would merely hasten our demise. We went with Burnell, changed our working practices and the company prospered, no one was made redundant and no one lost commands, in fact some pilots did quite well out of it with the company paying for base moves and in the event we didn't work THAT much harder, but we WERE reaslistic. I believe TUI UK is now worth more than BA on the LSE.
So for God's sake lets hope this High Court ruling once and for all puts an end to this truly absurd industrial action and those CC who supported the strike at last begin to recognize commercial reality and the fact that BASSA has tried to lead you on a path to destruction.
Finally I would say that if these strikers are too callous, selfish, cynical or just plain stupid to see the huge damage they are doing to their employer and just how much risk they are taking with so many other people's jobs and livelihoods, I certainly hope that each and every striker is "replaced" with more astute, realistic, enthusiastic and equally competent people, the smaller British airlines and overseas companies employing expats such as Emirates and Etihad, with less generous conditions than BA are full of such people.
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Its not too late but the abyss is approaching.