Well I've tried to stay out of this debate but I feel that a few points of FL245s last post require some elaboration.
Mainline pilots at BHX and MAN were offered the RJ's, did they want them? NO.
Given that the offer consisted of flying them as part of BACX, on vastly inferior terms and conditions, and with other pilots from BACX, a number of whom have made quite clear their intense dislike of BA pilots on this forum, then who could blame them? Had they been offered the RJ on their existing terms within BA then the uptake would have been very different.
For your colleagues who are displaced from their homes in MAN and BHX, am I not right in the fact that these pilots were seconded to BAR and therefore the company has the right to call them back to mainline at any time?
No. Most crew had actively bid to be based at BHX or MAN, the company could not recall them to LHR without closing the bases completely. Many have never been based in London.
As for stealing the Cityflyer fleet, sorry I mean mainline, well the RJ's arriving at MAN and BHX, irrelevant of who crews them has put an end to our company considering the Embraer 170 or similar
On which routes were the Embraer 170s to operate. If you're increasing capacity on your own routes then fine, but if the plan is to edge BAR aircraft of their routes then is it any wonder people are narked?
As for the expansion of BACX, well if we are able to operate a route more effectively then of course board level with BA will evaluate the possibility of handing the route to BACX, we are owned by the same parent company. But you have got to ask yourself why are we more effective? I think that’s the question a lot of BA mainline people don’t want to answer as they sit back and count allowances and duty earnings.
I wondered when then old chestnut of 'we're cheaper so we're better' would appear. I guess it must be those pittance wages easyjet are paying that make them so profitable. I would actually question whether your operation at BHX and MAN is more effective than the old BAR operation. Sure you can serve routes that we couldn't on the larger equipment, but one need only look at the shambles of an attempt at the BHX-BRU route to see your fortunes have been decidely mixed (for those not familiar, the route was switched from 2xA319 daily to 5xEmb145 daily but with such an appalling cancellation history that we lost slots. All BRU flights have now been handed over to SN on a codeshare). The reliability of the 145s and the 146s has been lamentable with hundreds of cancellations, five figure bills for wet-leasing Titan aircraft on a weekly basis, valuable customers leaving in droves and passenger satisfaction going through the floor, particularly now the RJ is arriving at BHX. Its no good being cheaper if you haven't got any passengers to fly and the way the regional operation is going that may be the case sooner than we all expect.