Lots of good points being made. I escaped SH to LH this year, and even being bottom 20% on my new fleet I have far more control of my workload than I did on the Airbus at Lhr. I'm a lot less tired and far more with it compared to 3 day, 10 sector disaster missions via T5 and T3. Even with nights out of bed it feels like a new job, new airline. And I have a young family and enjoy drinking as much beer as possible down route. The difference to me is night and day. I can do another 30 odd years LH.....I think. If I go part time....
So if you are recently joined on SH don't give up hope, I too had a "WTF have I done" moment during the first couple of years in the company having walked away from command at a Loco. With time in the company and seniority come options - and that is why I joined BA. A career path of sorts.
In short, all IMHO, BA short haul is a bloody disaster. Long haul is do-able, but 30-40 years of any form of full time flying....thanks EASA and welcome to the future.
A quick point re Balpa, lots of understandable griping over their supposed inaction but what they have done is keep all pilots on one Master Seniorty List, and kept all work in house - no mean feat given the reality of the aviation world outside BA. After 5 years in the company I had the seniority to bid for any LH co-pilot seat or go left seat SH Airbus Lhr or Lgw - those options were on the table solely because of the direction the Balpa guys have taken us. Keeping the career path open has involved some painful decisions, particularly for SH.
Ultimately, the comms from the union suggest (reading between the lines) that BA will keep our pay scales relatively intact, but the bidding system, lifestyle control and ability to self manage your workload that has for decades set BA apart from other airlines, are all features that are becoming nigh on impossible to defend in a new world of low cost thinking from a very aggressive management team.
When I joined the Training Captain at my sim assessment said something along the lines of "BA is a good company to work for on balance, but it is totally unrecognisable from the company I joined 20 years ago. I recommend working here but you must accept the company you are joining now will be completely unrecognisable in another 20 years." I remember thinking that was bloody good advice.