4468,
I agree in general with some of your comments and in any other merger type situation what you suggest may be considered a reasonable sequence of events. But you seem to be ignoring the fact that BA and its managers are under an enormous amount of pressure to sort BMI out before the cash haemorrhage starts dragging down the parent company.
At the end of the meeting this week Willie will be on the phone to Kieth. He will want to know what's been decided. Now which is more likely?
(a) "Sorry Willie, the pilot chaps haven't come to an agreement yet, so I've sent them off to have another go. They're going to debate the situation ad nauseam on internet forums and maybe even have a vote on it. It's going to be a few weeks yet I'm afraid."
or
(b) "The BMI chaps can't agree with our chaps, so I've put them on a standalone fleet, rostered by Carmen (bit of a result there Willie!) and we've now ample opportunity to make additional savings."
Which do think Willie would be happier about?
You are correct about who holds the purse strings. In the management brief a couple of weeks ago it was stated time and time again that BMI's cost base will not be allowed to rise 1 penny. It simply adds to the purchase price and compounds the problem.
From what I've read you guys and girls at BMI seem to have been very unhappy with your management. You seem to think you've now found a benevolent employer who is going to generously shower you with goodies. NOTHING could be further from the truth. You only have to look at far as Mixed Fleet to see what the company is capable of when given a blank sheet of paper. The reason will still have what we have is down to Balpa.
Please dont be a blank sheet of paper.