Market Rate for cabin crew

[123breath]

In summary

Numberfifteeplease -

My agenda is to bring to light the salaries paid to BA cabin crew in the context of the market rate. I thought I had made that very clear. It so turns out that those salaries are slightly less than I thought, so you should be pleased to have made that point. You say it was the lower earners amongst cabin crew that were most vocal in their protests, which is true, as no one from the higher earning community spoke up at the time. To do so would have highlighted their much higher salaries in the public eye. This thread has brought them out of the woodwork.

I didn’t say that CSD earned £75,000, I said £72,000. You seem upset that I have increased this figure in line with RPI, and so I will stop doing that, just to please you. He was paid £72,000 in the year 2004, and I would imagine he has retired by now. Could it be that he was one of those amongst you that were creaming off the best trips by way of a neat little arrangement with your schedulers? That might explain it perhaps. I’m sure you’re aware of what went on, although perhaps we shouldn’t stray from the current topic.

I once heard it said that, when taken as a group, the top third of cabin crew in BA earn twice as much as the bottom two thirds. Willie Walsh has obviously decided to sort that anomaly out, in line with his duties as CEO of BA. In light of Bassa’s behavior in recent years I would suggest that he and previous CEO’s have been extremely patient, forgiving, and, dare I say it......weak, in their dealings with Bassa. One might say Bassa got too big for its boots. Well, surprise, that appears to have changed now.

langtofllad -

This is not about my salary, but to satisfy your curiosity, the market rate for a senior longhaul captain is indeed six figures.......and I refer you to my previous posts about the market rate. I am paid the market rate. In fact slightly less in real terms, in comparison with my Virgin colleagues. Captains in certain other airlines around the world have salaries significantly higher than mine, with much better perks, but such is life.

How far off is my guess of £45,000 for a purser, when a main crew member with a similar seniority has openly said that he/she was paid £37,000 last year? You say it’s ‘way off’. Define ‘way off’ if you would.

You ask whether what we earn after many years of employment is relevant. Of course it is, especially when competing in a marketplace where other companies have much lower costs. Surely you can see that? It’s the grim economic reality that the whole world, including Bassa members, must face. The only reason BA may now have any future at all is because of the various cutbacks made since the days of ‘closing the gap’ in the 90’s. Old contract cabin crew have closed no gaps of significance, and their pay is ‘way off’ the market rate.

I have no argument with anyone who is paid the market rate, including the more junior crew, and those tasked with running BA. I don’t have the time or inclination to research the market rate for the CEO of a blue chip company, but if Willie Walsh is paid significantly more than that rate I will join any protest against his salary. I do know that he has made some generous gestures of the last year or two though.

I couldn’t agree more with your assertion that it is only to be expected that employees do all that they can to protect their T&C’s. If you truly believe in that then you too will have no problem understanding where the VCC came from. It is why I stand alongside all those from all departments, many of them Unite members, in BA’s defense against a Bassa that seems to have completely lost the plot, and which threatens my future. I find some comfort in the knowledge that, should BA fail for any reason, passengers will still want to fly, the aircraft will still exist to fly them, and a new entity will rise from the ashes of BA which will employ staff at something near the market rate. No change for me there then.

Something that is not relevant to this thread is the notion of the ‘Cruise Pilots’ that you refer to. An interesting rumour, a role that was very popular amongst co-pilots during the days of the Sydney postings in the early 90’s, as it was a role filled by a fully qualified pilot being paid the market rate for an easy ride with enhanced bidding seniority (due to the fact that only cruise pilots could bid for certain long range trips). It was a very nice little number!

Sorry Moderators, I digress!

I have been accused of hijacking this thread, and so will make this one of my last posts.

I'm sorry tomkins, it does appear that your initial intention for the subject matter of this thread was starter rates for mixed fleet. I should have started my own thread entitled 'Market Rate for cabin crew'