Originally Posted by londonmet
And if IAG didn't purchase BMI then they'd be out of business this time next year probably so it's definitely the lesser of two evils.
What utter tosh. Please confirm what factual basis you have to back this up and please don't tell me that it is some journo such as that plum working for the FT.
As a bmi employee we were actually shown a Powerpoint presentation from the management documenting Lufthansa's objectives for the Company. The first objective was to sell bmi. That wasn't to sell it to BA/IAG it was to sell it to the most beneficial bidder. That doesn't necessarily mean the highest. So if/were IAG to for whatever reason pull out of the sale, Lufthansa would simply move on to the next bidder. This could be Virgin, Etihad or any other player who submitted a proposal that Lufthansa considered suitable. If the options were not acceptable then Lufthansa would go with option number 2.
This was to invest in bmi to turn it around. Sure there would be further pain and suffering for some and undoubtedly further slots would be sold to help fund this strategy but a plan was a foot. The question was asked whether Lufthansa would simply wind the bmi up and it was explicitly said that this would not be an option. By winding bmi up they stood to lose everything.
My guess is that they wanted to turn bmi around with the least amount of spending required. When they realised that this could not be achieved they have had to dig deep and come up with alternatives. They could turn bmi around but it would need to be brought down to a more manageable size to stop the costs required to do this from spiralling out of control.
So for anyone who thinks that bmi staff should be lucky to have a job, yes you are right, who isn't lucky to have a job at this time but if you think that this was the 11th hour for bmi, guess again. bmi staff could have been wearing a red uniform, a sandy brown one or even a Germanic looking one. We really are a happy bunch who get the job done. Berating bmi staff as being lucky to have a job is a long way from the truth and quite insulting. Had we gone to an opposition, especially a Gulf carrier, things would not be looking so rosy as they do at the moment with the grand lonhaul expansion plans.
For those asking what sacrifices bmi are making, why not let us have a go at operating the standalone Company. Sure there may/will be some erosions eventually in terms and conditions but we would not be type frozen, not be at the bottom of a massive seniority list, probably flying new wide bodied aircraft and for our SFOs and FOs, potentially seeing career progression at an accelerated rate far quicker than they could dream about within BA.
I'd be extremely proud to wear a BA uniform and operating with high calibre professions as I have done throughout my career but please do not belittle us with comments regarding how lucky we are to be at the bottom of the MSL, how we can continue with our BMI salaries without incremental pay until sometime in the distant future when we may be lucky enough to finally make it on to the pp34 list. We are not fools. The talk that is going on here is merely just the minimum required by TUPE law. Nothing more, nothing less. Lets not beat about the bush, trying to jazz it up as anything other than the bare minimum. I for one am prepared to make concessions, lord knows we've all made some along the windy roads of our aviation careers but lets just try and stick to facts rather than beat each other up with hearsay and speculation.
My rant is not meant to deride or aggravate, merely to open people’s eyes so that they can make a more informed conclusion of the events. We recently were flying BMed's aircraft with their Business class cabins to destinations close to China from LHR (tech stopping naturally along the way). We were taking other narrowbody business class cabins down to Sierra Leone. We have interesting routes to many of the worlds "Axis of Evils". Until a couple of years ago, we were flying 330s to Caribbean destinations, Las Vegas and other longhaul destinations. Many on here may recognise us as a flying on domestic routes but we are far more than that.
I totally empathise with those that have been absorbed by BA over the years and found themselves at the bottom of the MSL seniority list. If the present legislation was available during those periods, perhaps you may not have been handled in the same way as you have been. This is the other feature that some people have not understood. The law has changed over the last few years. I am sure that many people are pouring over the TUPE wordings as I type but the bottom line is, that as is often the case, areas are not clear black and white. This means that it is down to the judge on the day. It may go one way or it may go the other. Hopefully though neither of the two CCs will wish to see this go to the wire, as potentially it could sink the whole concept of seniority and we'd all be left clutching the flotsam from the wreck that was what we considered a stable career path. It is as we know an emotive subject, the merging of Companies and what everyone has to be careful of is one side winding up the other side to the extent that they feel that all they can do is throw out their toys out the pram and thus create a situation far greater than the original problem.....