Take whatever Bill Francis offered you with a pinch of salt - they will change whatever they want to change and do whatever they want to do. The only thing that could possibly stop them doing that would be a strong Trades Union and thats almost a thing of the past.
Correction: The *other* thing that *would* have stopped them would have been being in such a dire financial state that the only option would have been a fire sale to one of the Middle East carriers, and then you'd *really* know the meaning of management that do what they want.