Not only were BA pilots bribed with £13m worth of share options, I say bribed, as you cannot claim to have made cost savings of 20% in some areas, if you are in turn compensated.
In addition to BA flight crew getting this windfall of shares, they were also paid £126 an hour to fly as volunteer cabin crew. Whilst the dispute unfolded, BA pilots were actually profiting out of the situation. If they had not been so handsomely rewarded, perhaps they would not have been so enthusiastic to offer their services?
All BA flight crew have done is kick the can down the road. They had to make more concessions to assimilate BMI pilots, in order to head off BAExpress. That is just on the backburner. This policy of appeasement still has a long way to run for Willie, who knows how to play the BA pilot community being an ex IALPA rep himself. To keep feeding the crocodile in the hope it will eat you last, demonstrates the inherent weakness of their resolve. IMHO BA pilots will never strike to protect their contracts, their conditions will simply be chipped away over the next decade.
For some of the correspondents contributing to this thread, the war against BASSA and Legacy crew has become a religion. Long serving cabin crew are referred to here as "ignorant hordes" by one poster as an example. I am sure Iberia flight crew do not refer to their cabin crew colleagues in the same vein.
The BA cabin crew dispute was very complex and confrontational. There were no share options for cabin crew to make concessions, only for the pilots? Why? Well we know why.
As Aporizzaje says, the costs of the battle are mounting and any victory may seem ultimately Pyhrric. The problem is that Walsh does not have a reverse gear. The Iberia dispute will get ramped up, the goal posts will be moved and if you do not accept the first deal, the next one will be worse. Unfortunately for the CEO of IAG, these tactics are now a busted flush. It's heartening to see that Iberia pilots do have a proper union, rather than the semi-detached version BA flight crew pay a fortune to.
Good luck!
Last edited by Count Niemantznarr; 10th Jan 2013 at 12:59.