Well its a small but important point, but most crew aren't on £8-12K, only the 5000 or so on the new contract. The remaining 8000 are on the old contract and, having been in since 1997, are on a considerably better basic. Plus for the benefit of the un-BA-initiated that 12:15 double usually includes 2.5 hours turnaround between aircraft changes at the crew report centre, or if they agree to do it in 1:45hr then a bonus CAT payment of £35ish for main crew and £50 for CSDs! Thats the reason most short haul old-contract pursers have a better car and house than I do!
Long haul, well thats a different story. Its no secret that the average gross earnings of main crew on long haul last year was around £36K, with CSDs getting around £56K! All that for a job which is nowhere near as demanding as short haul, includes bunk rest, long Min Base Turn Rounds, back-to-back premiums, box-payments, etc etc. Plus if you don't fancy working Xmas then just phone in sick, perhaps from the aircraft if you're really miffed. Then we can cancel dozens of Xmas flights, just like last year, whilst BASSA rant and rage about how hard done by they are!