British Airways vs. BASSA (Airline Staff Only)

[IYCSWICSWICW]

..quite so, we should remember that we are a customer driven industry, and in BA's case with quite abit of freight thrown in.

MissM does well to keep his/her head above the parapet and seems loyal to BASSA. Loyality is a trait to be admired and we would all do well to refocus exactly as to where our own loyalities lie. MissM is loyal to a union group that has done awfully well in the past in seemingly negotiating great packages for their members. Quite so, but this was all achieved in the face of weak BA management/leadership during an era of aviation when the cash sloshed around like a leaking bev maker - being mopped up by those that fought to absorb it into their T&C's. BASSA did great then, well done.

But, OMG, haven't times changed?

Now we have a world that has changed so rapidly that only those willing to accept change/evolution survive. BA now competes against American's protected by Chapter 11, Asian upstarts and the Middle East revolution in LH. SH is faced with the LoCo model. All these competitors work on fundamentally different business models of cost-base and efficiencies.

So BA simply have to react. The CC inefficiencies are breathtaking. The irony is that with skilled negotiation BASSA could have secured deals that would have been seen as mature/intelligent/ground breaking and would have kept the Brand wholesome. Instead we have a regime that is chaired by a personality that 'alledgedly' refered to the CEO as a something not very nice - to his face. The problem, as I see it, revolves around a fundamental lack of business sense from one side of the fence. What little 'common-sense' that does emerge is wrapped in emotional claptrap which is as transparent as it is crass.

BA is a business, headed by an astute operator. He is not emotional, aggressive, stupid, 'vindictive', or likely to roll over any time soon. He has the admiration and, more importantly, the backing of those that matter to run BA as a BUSINESS, successfully.

BASSA is having an argument over ST and Discips'. In negotiations, you can NEVER when an argument. BASSA is not negotiating anything anymore. So how can BASSA possibly survive intact? I would love to hear from a pro-BASSA contributor what BASSA are negotiating? They are a union, aren't they?. Unions are supposed to negotiate, not argue.