This is now our worry - no wonder BA put a lay off clause in our contracts!
If we go over our limits and cant fly - they can lay us off with no pay
MF Crew, you are in uncharted territory here because BA have never had the option of 'standing people down' so it has never happened before. You will have a strength in numbers eventually so your priority is to get enough of you together to approach Unite for your own NSP branch and start negotiating. You will also need some means of negotiating future pay deals, etc so a collective bargaining group is inevitable. Might also be worth looking at EU legislation to see whether it is acceptable to treat full-time permanent workers in such a careless fashion.
On the plus side your new employer doesn't like to be seen as a baddy so tends to play quite fair IMHO (as the BASSA faithful fall about laughing!) It wouldn't look good for a profit making full-service carrier to have it's cabin crew claiming Income support so don't assume the worse.
Took over from some of your colleagues the other day and chatted awhile. Please spread the word that we don't bite and are really happy to meet you. Some of the MF crew looked scared to death! Welcome to BA!