What now?
Evening All,
It would seem that the next move in this game will be the BMICC talking to BA about what will happen after the money has changed hands. BA, we all know, would like to have any talks over quickly and start the process of integrating BMI into the BA operation. The question is how are they going to do that.
This TUPE business would appear to be good for BMI pilots as it means that their terms and conditions are respected, and rightly so, but increasingly from reading various posts on the subject, it may be a double edged sword.
BA bidline and any position on the BA MSL may not provide the entitlements that TUPE requires and that would of course leave BA open to legal action. The proposal that I'm picking up on would be that the future ex BMI pilots will remain as a separate group within the BA pilot work force and be rostered very similarly to the way that they currently are and even retain the routes that they currently operate, although I suspect that BA will not keep the 330s. A group that because of the BA pilots agreement, will be one that withers on the vine with all future recruitment being into mainline.
This would satisfy the TUPE requirement, negate the prospect of a legal challenge, allow economies of scale by using BA resources instead of Midland ones and yet not make the BMI pilots immune from further cost savings should they be required.
BA get what they want, the slots. No increase in costs, no danger of a legal challenge.
I think that that scenario is the one that the BACC have foreseen and wish that the BMICC avoid.
Before the inevitable accusations, I wish the BMI folks the best of luck. The BMICC seem to think that they will have a better chance negotiating with a BA team. We will see. I would hate to see them seize defeat from the jaws of victory. Is this an attempt to coerce the BMICC to agree unilaterally to what the BACC proposes? Of course not. They are there to do the best for their constituents, but if they represented me I would hope that they have a "Plan B".
I know that some will hope that their length of service for BMI will count as the same as if they had been working for BA all that time and can sympathise with those that don't want to start from scratch again, but the real danger from this is that you don't end up on the MSL at all. That would be fine if your retirement plans are in the next few years, but pretty disastrous if you plan to work beyond that.
Any way all the best, hope to fly with at least half of you soon and good luck to those in Baby and Regional.