This has become a self-regenerating thread
It starts as a request for information about a rumour based on surmise, as with everything connected with this aeroplane considerable interest is generated, expanding the thread, much personal opinion is written.
On a "quiet news" day, the thread is trawled by a representative of the "popular" press who takes the opportunity to round up a couple of low key quotes from engineers in despair of the way they are managed and underresourced, and melds the two to create an instant article. Said article is picked up for free by other elements of the media, to the extent that the execrable Mail even plagiarises verbatim some of the Sun aricle.
So another dozen people post on this thread in the knowledge that the story is true.
It's not!
BA have made at least two press releases, neither has been published to my knowledge except for the "no decision has been made" element which is easy to dress up to make it look like something else.
twotun:
I am now aware of the two dropped services in March owing to projected lack of hulls. It's a very poor situation but it is not a problem inherent with the aeroplane but the chronic underresourcing of engineers, justified by the door mods.
As for FE establishment, I'll say again that I am as unhappy that the 'surplus' engineers have been dropped as anyone, but you know as well as I of the contingency planning which will allow services to be run for some time after '04. I'm not defending the principle, just stating the fact.
To give the lie to the reportage - the articles make great play of ststing that pilots and cabin crew have bben redeployed. THEY HAVE NOT, in fact there are three Captains returning to the fleet this Summer and there are new Cabin crew undergoing training today.
All this and more in BA's response to the articles, which was apparently not newsworthy enough to publish.