I have worked for many years in the airline industry. I have worked as CC and even as a CSD. I have also held senior management positions in airline commercial and operational departments. I have been following this thread firstly, because I think it gives a good running account of the current thinking of those directly implicated in the IA, and secondly, because the IA has directly affected my personal and professional life... and not in a pleasant way.
One observation I hae is that there appears to be an inabiliy on the part of many CC to understand what an airline is, why it exists and who it is meant to serve. Fair enough, in the fat old days, especially where quasi state run airlines plowed the skies, there was little incentive to worry about bottom line results and there certainly was no real competition for custom. This is not the case today.
I congratulate the BA staff who have acted reasonably and made the sacrifices in their respective departments for the good of "their" company. The air transport industry is not immune from the same socio-economic adjustments that are being made across all industry. No one wants to see their conditions made worse, but in difficult times, difficult actions are called for.
As for the BASSA crew who believe that they are able to play the same game but with different rules, I am afraid they will remain unable to understand.