Hand,
Ornithopter if you must post then lets stick to FACT, not RUMOUR
The fact is, I keep suggesting a win/win situation. You keep suggesting win/maybe win/loose situation. Do I want to see pilots wages undermined? No. Do I want to see pilots terms and conditions undermined? No. Are all BACX pilots happy to see BA pilots loose out? No. Are all BA pilots happy to see BACX pilots loose out? No. But scope certainly made it feel like that should have been a yes.
We can let the idea of BAR or BACX making a profit drop. If you have a BA news that says BAR made £12M profit, then I do not disagree, however, as I said before it depends who you talk to. Perhaps I did talk to people who didn't check their facts properly, so you can have that one.
Now you're really letting yourself down with this one. Do you think Ryanair or Easy sell all their seats at £1? Of course they don't so I'll say no more. Its easy to charge £300 when you have a monopoly, not so easy when the low costs start to compete though, as BACX found.
I am afraid the opposite is true. You are letting yourself down by believing the propaganda. The base that I flew from (now shut) had only one route with a competing low cost. The other routes were unique to us and were profitable for many years. While it is true that BACX has made a loss, and that they just 'gave up' in competition with the low costs on some routes (notably Cardiff), you cannot justify the shutting of bases which were profitable for many years until BACX came along. Now we all know that whether an airline is profitable or not is not really down to the pilots, although we can make a difference, so all this 'we are better than you' rubbish is childish. The management of a given pilots airline is nothing to do with him/her, so he/she shouldn't be punished for it. Do you think the pilots in BACX wanted to give up in the face of competiton and a 'soft' maket, or do you think they were professionals like all the rest of us?
Well we saw it differently. It was a straight transfer of 200 jobs from BA mainline to BACX, a move the BACC was absolutely right to oppose. Hardly all the same jobs when one has substantially poorer terms and conditions.
Indeed, which is why BALPA should keep us fully informed and not pitch one airline against another. Do you think if BALPA had sent us information on WHAT WAS ACTUALLY happening, rather than newsletters complaining about the other bunch, that any of this arguing would be going on? Do you think that if we worked together and had proposals from a combined pilot community that we would have had more power, or do you belive that BACC is all powerful?
Is something better than nothing? Is your glass half full or empty? Thats for BACX to decide, not us.
What a pathetic response! Is your glass half full or half empty when you are facing redundancy and being moved about the county like a lorry?
Perhaps, but which way is the advantage going in this scenario? BACX now have access to plenty of RJ commands and jet flying they previously did not. Whilst the BA secondees are now well paid, the opportunity to bid for those commands is very restricted and BA pilots have effectively lost a significant number of command opportunities. BA BALPA could have said no to any BACX RJ flying if they'd wanted, would that have been a better solution for you?
So the direct loss of 20 commands (demotions, rather than opportunities dissapearing) is an advantage is it? And splitting the workforce into two lots is progress? I am glad the BA secondees are well paid and so they should be. If we had worked together in the first place, then BA may well not have lost any command positions at all. BA BALPA could well have said no to BACX RJ flying, but also, they could have said no to undermining other peoples jobs - but they chose not to. They chose to support one lot and undermine the other. There were win/win solutions available, but they were not considered (certainly not publicly).
To make myself absolutely clear:
1. I do not support undermining of peopes T+C's and wages.
2. I similarly do not support BALPA undermining another airlines T+C's and wages, or forcing demotions on another airline.
3. I do support us working TOGETHER.
4. I do support us having the facts by which to judge what is going on, rather than opinion.
Why can't people like you realise that people like me are arguing for better things for ALL of us, not better for some and worse for others.