Betty Girl
I would reckon that any cabin crew who signed the deal are OK for the next two years. Beyond that is pure crystal ball gazing, but that is not just BA. The airline industry is high risk. If you look at the number of carriers in Europe alone that have gone out of business in the past five years it is quite scary. I think some BA staff still have the mindset that existed prior to privatisation - namely that the company could not possibly fold - that the government would step in and prevent that from happening and really we all have jobs for as long as we want them. This just isn't true and hasn't been for at least 15 years. Airlines are highly susceptible to oil price changes, acts of aggression, terrorism, natural disasters, and that's before we start on regulatory approvals, government taxation and duty plus the global economic state. There is no such thing as a safe job and working for an airline is riskier than an awful lot of other jobs.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, BA management could spin you a line that you had a job for life, but in doing so they would have to have their fingers crossed behind their backs, because it just isn't like that anymore. Instead I think that they have been reasonably upfront and provided some kind of reassurance for a timeframe that they can project against. To go beyond that is pure guesswork.
The other thing is that I feel there is a general attempt by cabin crew to personalise this whole affair. It's not personal. It's not Willie Walsh or Bill Francis having a pop at cabin crew. It's BA management seeking to do what is best for the airline. If they don't do that we are all out of work. The managers are paid to make the tough decisions. They are not automatons, they do appreciate that there are real people with mortgages and families to worry about out there who will bear the impact of their decisions. But if it is a choice between everyone working a bit harder or the risk that huge chunks of the company simply cease to exist, which would you rather they took ?