This is an interesting post, and some excellent information given by Chief Brody and Wiggy.
Its funny, since leaving education and spending 11 years working in industry doing so called 'normal jobs', BA is really no different from any other company I have ever worked for. They all want more for less, drive down the T's and C's over time and dont seem to have any regard for looking after its employees to motivate them. Sadly, like a lot of things in life, making as much money as possible seems to be the driving factor.
I joined BA from Bmi in 2012 with the IAG transition and have seen a lot of change in those 3 years. As much as I enjoyed Bmi, towards the end I was always looking over my shoulder wondering what Lufthansa were going to do next. I have found the job security element in BA to be refreshing and positive. Since I have been in BA there have been around 400 new joiners, DEP's onto long haul, and there are one hell of a lot of command courses going through at the moment, to which some of my old friends/colleagues from Bmi are being promoted. Its great to see the guys in the crew room with there new jackets!
I think there is a lot to be said for the opinions you will get from people in this thread. Guys, through no fault of their own, that have been in BA for 20 plus years, will certainly have a different outlook of what is good and what is bad, purely down to the fact is they do no know any different. Coming from a slightly different angle myself, I dont think it is a bad place to be. There is a lot of opportunity within the airline if you want it. Even though the company have put restrictions on our swapping system, I have found crewing to be flexible and helpful where they can to satisfy your requests. I was force assigned for the first time this month, but in all fairness its the first time I have been done in 12 months and am taking one for the team.
With regard to the CC, 9 times out of 10, I found them to be fine. I try and treat people as I wish to be treated, and the majority of the time the guys and gals to to be receptive to that. I found it quite amusing when I first joined the horror on peoples faces when I took the time to visit the back of the aircraft to introduce myself, it came across of not being the 'done thing'. Its been mentioned already, but a lot of time all the crews you fly with throughout the day are all doing different things, even within their own team, so night stops are often spent with your colleague, or on your own.
In a nutshell, I dont think BA is a bad place to be, however I am easily satisfied.
If you do decide to join, I hope you enjoy it.