Willie Walsh is the man to head BA
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Willie
I heard that British Airways were forced to adjust their porn setting on the email system as any reference to Willie Walsh was being deleted and reported to security ?
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Anti-ice is exaggerating a touch methinks.
With post duty-clear times of up to an hour and a half and rest periods of 15 and a half hours if you do a long day (I think 12 hrs gives you 15 off) it is virtually impossible for LHR SH CC to do 50-60 hours (bit of a difference there too) of work in 6-7 (?) days without agreeing to it.
Minimum turnaround at LHR? 2:30, any less and it's a CAT with £37. Less than 2hrs and you go home or delay the flight, unless night stopping then you can go down to 1:30.
My other half is LHR SH CC, she does some long days but gets good rest periods between trips, and on a typical long day (other than a band 4) will have a long break in the middle. 12:30 duty for a MAN and back then up to NCL? Hardly back breaking is it?
WW is not stupid, he knows he can't walk all over BALPA when it comes to bidline/crew complements/hotels. BALPA is a union consisting mainly (not entirely) of fairly selfish people who didn't care about the FSS for new entrants or even the AMP much until it affects them, but you try to take away something major; already in place which will directly negatively affect the whole workforce, and you're asking for big big trouble.
With post duty-clear times of up to an hour and a half and rest periods of 15 and a half hours if you do a long day (I think 12 hrs gives you 15 off) it is virtually impossible for LHR SH CC to do 50-60 hours (bit of a difference there too) of work in 6-7 (?) days without agreeing to it.
Minimum turnaround at LHR? 2:30, any less and it's a CAT with £37. Less than 2hrs and you go home or delay the flight, unless night stopping then you can go down to 1:30.
My other half is LHR SH CC, she does some long days but gets good rest periods between trips, and on a typical long day (other than a band 4) will have a long break in the middle. 12:30 duty for a MAN and back then up to NCL? Hardly back breaking is it?
WW is not stupid, he knows he can't walk all over BALPA when it comes to bidline/crew complements/hotels. BALPA is a union consisting mainly (not entirely) of fairly selfish people who didn't care about the FSS for new entrants or even the AMP much until it affects them, but you try to take away something major; already in place which will directly negatively affect the whole workforce, and you're asking for big big trouble.
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Well, rumour control has it that the "elephant in BA's boat", as Rod E liked to call the massive hole in the BA NAPS pension funds, is about to be comprehensively plugged by a campaign to move as fast as possible towards paying-in enough to pay-off ACCRUED pension rights of existing members of the scheme, and then close it.
This will prevent existing members of the scheme from accruing the benefits that they thought they would at retirement.
On to other things - one of our illustrious managers has let the cat out of the bag and declaimed that bidline is "unworkable" and "has" to be replaced - shorthand for "we dont want to employ enough pilots to do the work that would keep work levels below 850 hours a year in shorthaul".
So much to look forward to when our new man arrives!
This will prevent existing members of the scheme from accruing the benefits that they thought they would at retirement.
On to other things - one of our illustrious managers has let the cat out of the bag and declaimed that bidline is "unworkable" and "has" to be replaced - shorthand for "we dont want to employ enough pilots to do the work that would keep work levels below 850 hours a year in shorthaul".
So much to look forward to when our new man arrives!
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For years Walsh resisted every attempt made by Aer Lingus crews to improve their rostering by introduction of a Bidding System, or evn a Monthly Roster. Even when the Labour Court handed down a clear directive to him to implement a bid system - he ignored it.
Willy isn't interested in your lifestyle. Anything that obstructs his 'flexibility', or his 'ownership' of the rostering process is a target.
Willy isn't interested in your lifestyle. Anything that obstructs his 'flexibility', or his 'ownership' of the rostering process is a target.
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More fun with our Attendance Management Process - a Management view of what happens to people who are sick:
"There are two ways of looking at it. The first is as you say - you should not fly with a cold. The second, is that you are paid to fly aeroplanes. If you are absent, for whatever reason, then you are not fulfilling your contract."
Into the disciplinary process you go! Catch 22 here we come!
Why all the aggression from Big Airways?
Because they KNOW that sooner or later BALPA will be forced into a strike to support a member who has been hounded-out, as the BACC Chairman has promised to do.
When the strike IS held, BINGO - NAPS, the final salary pension scheme is closed. Once the money is there to pay the obligations accrued up to date, that is what will happen. Result - no more "elephant in BA's rowing boat" (pension contributions).
Anyone who thinks the AMP is just about sickness is missing the point! WW will be keen to turn this screw even tighter, of that we can be sure, to be sure!
"There are two ways of looking at it. The first is as you say - you should not fly with a cold. The second, is that you are paid to fly aeroplanes. If you are absent, for whatever reason, then you are not fulfilling your contract."
Into the disciplinary process you go! Catch 22 here we come!
Why all the aggression from Big Airways?
Because they KNOW that sooner or later BALPA will be forced into a strike to support a member who has been hounded-out, as the BACC Chairman has promised to do.
When the strike IS held, BINGO - NAPS, the final salary pension scheme is closed. Once the money is there to pay the obligations accrued up to date, that is what will happen. Result - no more "elephant in BA's rowing boat" (pension contributions).
Anyone who thinks the AMP is just about sickness is missing the point! WW will be keen to turn this screw even tighter, of that we can be sure, to be sure!
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When the strike IS held, BINGO - NAPS, the final salary pension scheme is closed
Things are going to get profoundly unpleasant at BA. I believe the Attendence Management Programme is just the start. If you think the current lot in Flight Ops are playing hardball, Willie will surpass the lot. His henchmen will be drafted in to put the boot in and 'nasty' will be redefined in a way that would make the Prince of Darkness blush.
Many of us are already doing the sums. In all the years I've been with BA, I've never seen the prospects look so bleak. We are treated with UTTER CONTEMPT by our management and their example is being followed by the other departments.
We have a pilot's union that wrings its hands but does nothing, while the cabin crew unions cement and build on their 'Spanish Practices'.
I would never have believed it could come to this, there are no lights at the end of the tunnel - none at all.
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And I thought comments on Airmech could be depressing....
The main point surely is that Pilots and Engineers have been hammered so frequently and both their unions seem to be increasingly in bed with the management that there really isn't much left to take away.
However, as is very clear from many threads here and elswhere, the cabin crew have somehow managed to remain unscathed. WW must have them in his sights first and then of course the huge starbucks that is Waterworld.
Let's hope so anyway
The main point surely is that Pilots and Engineers have been hammered so frequently and both their unions seem to be increasingly in bed with the management that there really isn't much left to take away.
However, as is very clear from many threads here and elswhere, the cabin crew have somehow managed to remain unscathed. WW must have them in his sights first and then of course the huge starbucks that is Waterworld.
Let's hope so anyway
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Airbus is absolutely correct in his analysis. I see no hope whatsoever. The BALPA Reps do a sterling job, but are kept masterfully on the back foot by a plethora of issues, none of which alone, perhaps with the AMP apart, are enough to galvanise sufficient numbers of the membership into industrial action.
Even if industrial action were possible, (unlikely given the general BA BALPA memberships' repeated lack of backbone), then it will be a form of suicide anyhow. As described above - someone is pushing us into that path for quite deliberate motives.
If the BACC Chairman ever makes good on his promise to call a strike over the first flightcrew member to be sacked due to the AMP, then I can guarantee that he and the rest of the BACC will be made redundant so fast they will be dizzy.
I wonder if the rest of the flightcrew workforce really has the will and the fibre to resist on their behalf when push comes to shove, as it surely must as the WW era looms.
The contempt for Flightcrew is absolute and grows by the day. It is striking how the "way ahead" for ambitious Flight Ops Managers, with very few but honourable exceptions, consists of holding the flightcrew in ever more scathing disregard.
I gather that, meanwhile, we have another IT fiasco brewing. EWS, the spares and inventory management system that has been such a spectacular failure - so much so that, to make the system work, large number of parts just aren't entered into the system so that the engineers can actually get the parts that they need - is about to be topped in the 'Disaster Stakes' by the replacement for FICO and DISC. This was meant to combine the two computer systems into one and reduce paperwork.
Moles report, however, that it creates a chaotic cocktail of more paperwork and mountains of extra labour input to achieve the same result.
Look for it to be trumpeted as a "huge win", (corporate speak), in the BA News anytime soon!
Gloomy missive concluded by saying how much I sympathise with BA's fantastic and long suffering Engineers. They have had more reorganisations and restructurings than I have had hot meals, everyone to their disbenefit, it appears to me. I admire them for their weary cheerfulness and many kindnesses.
Even if industrial action were possible, (unlikely given the general BA BALPA memberships' repeated lack of backbone), then it will be a form of suicide anyhow. As described above - someone is pushing us into that path for quite deliberate motives.
If the BACC Chairman ever makes good on his promise to call a strike over the first flightcrew member to be sacked due to the AMP, then I can guarantee that he and the rest of the BACC will be made redundant so fast they will be dizzy.
I wonder if the rest of the flightcrew workforce really has the will and the fibre to resist on their behalf when push comes to shove, as it surely must as the WW era looms.
The contempt for Flightcrew is absolute and grows by the day. It is striking how the "way ahead" for ambitious Flight Ops Managers, with very few but honourable exceptions, consists of holding the flightcrew in ever more scathing disregard.
I gather that, meanwhile, we have another IT fiasco brewing. EWS, the spares and inventory management system that has been such a spectacular failure - so much so that, to make the system work, large number of parts just aren't entered into the system so that the engineers can actually get the parts that they need - is about to be topped in the 'Disaster Stakes' by the replacement for FICO and DISC. This was meant to combine the two computer systems into one and reduce paperwork.
Moles report, however, that it creates a chaotic cocktail of more paperwork and mountains of extra labour input to achieve the same result.
Look for it to be trumpeted as a "huge win", (corporate speak), in the BA News anytime soon!
Gloomy missive concluded by saying how much I sympathise with BA's fantastic and long suffering Engineers. They have had more reorganisations and restructurings than I have had hot meals, everyone to their disbenefit, it appears to me. I admire them for their weary cheerfulness and many kindnesses.
Couldonlyaffordafiver
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I agree. Hopefully I'm wrong. However, I just want to take issue with Fred:
How? The UK has slightly different labour laws to Hong Kong...
...then I can guarantee that he and the rest of the BACC will be made redundant so fast they will be dizzy.
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Brakesoff - It may seem harsh, but I think many would agree the greatest excess seems to exist with the CC and their ludicrous allowances...i.e working one down payments, CAT turnrounds etc etc..
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It is clear to me that many of the recent comments are made by some of ue that know little, anything or nothing about the industry. Through the consistent high standards of BA Cabin Crew and their professionalism we have just returned to profit much of this down to their commitment. Without doubt BA CC project the highest levels of cabin crew anywhere in the world and it is due as much to them that BA have such an enviable record of safety and security. I thing you will find that they will be the last people on his list to change.
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I don't think the cabin crew will be first at all! Everybody knows they will simply strike - they can't conceive that the company could ever go to the wall!
No, he will pick on the targets with a proven track record of taking whatever is thrown at them. Not due necessarily to lack of resolve on the part of elected reps. More to do with the types of people making up the majority of that particular workforce. Sadly.
Oh, that'll be the pilots then!!
No, he will pick on the targets with a proven track record of taking whatever is thrown at them. Not due necessarily to lack of resolve on the part of elected reps. More to do with the types of people making up the majority of that particular workforce. Sadly.
Oh, that'll be the pilots then!!
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HZ 123 are you sure? "Without doubt BA CC project the highest levels of cabin crew anywhere in the world and it is due as much to them that BA have such an enviable record of safety and security. "
Tell that to the passengers on Bill Hagan's Nairobi. It's acknowledged that the cabin crew were no where to be seen, when the intruder entered the flight deck and applied 120 degrees of bank to the 400. Perhaps they were in the bunks?
Tell that to the passengers on Bill Hagan's Nairobi. It's acknowledged that the cabin crew were no where to be seen, when the intruder entered the flight deck and applied 120 degrees of bank to the 400. Perhaps they were in the bunks?
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HZ 123- While I can accept that Cabin crew have contributed to the return to profitability the same goes for many of BAs 50,000 or so staff. Its not a solo act. As for their professionalism, high standards etc, thats sometimes true, sometimes not. In service terms its one of the worlds most variable airlines, ranging from excellent to appalling. For a consistently pleasant and cheerful service it comes behind at least: Singapore, Cathay, Thai, Easyjet, Kenya, Air Malawi, Emirates ( until some recent problems), Gulf Air, Qatar, Malaysia, BMi, FlyBE and a host of others. This isnt new. and has been the case for a long time. BA Cabin Crew arent as good as they think they are and there is too often considerable room for improvement.
On the productivity score, LHR has to be treated as just another airport. 2 hour 30 minute minimum turnarounds without the allowances fruit machine delivering yet again are absurd as are many of the other allowance quirks. Worse though is the fact that allowances have become part of an all consuming culture way above the delivery of service and the wish for the company to be a successful business.
On the productivity score, LHR has to be treated as just another airport. 2 hour 30 minute minimum turnarounds without the allowances fruit machine delivering yet again are absurd as are many of the other allowance quirks. Worse though is the fact that allowances have become part of an all consuming culture way above the delivery of service and the wish for the company to be a successful business.
