Willie swings his axe
Thought police antagonist
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batninth-----You raised a couple of interesting points here re "ticking all the right boxes"---I am sure they can and will---however---for many this will be all they can do. Working within BA as a manager is not the most arduous job in the world and the culture shock for those fortunate enough to get a new position may well come as a traumatic shock----even more so if they have been at BA since the year dot. Quite a few will actually be unemployable actually as they may have attended all the courses ---but would be incapable of implementing the training anyway !. And for those for whom accountability is an unknown or simply cosmetic concept--helps if you are "protetected" by an arcane system that always supports a "manager" no matter how inept--the "we did is this way in BA" approach is not likely to be well received in other organisations.
As for returning as consultants--possibly in a few cases--but I would think WW is astute enough to negate this potential gravy train. Anyway, I am sure those who remain can manage quite adequately.
Be interstesting to see how much the refreshment outlets profits drop in "the street" at Waterworld though !
As for returning as consultants--possibly in a few cases--but I would think WW is astute enough to negate this potential gravy train. Anyway, I am sure those who remain can manage quite adequately.
Be interstesting to see how much the refreshment outlets profits drop in "the street" at Waterworld though !
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THE PILOT'S TAKE ON WILLIE WALSH
Published: December 2 2005 02:00 | Last updated: December 2 2005 02:00
Comments from pilots posted on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network at www.pprune.com
*'I told you he'd do it. . .city boys love will this' - Bearcat
*'And you know what? No one will even notice they're missing' - Team Player
*'And. . .those self-same managers who are going are the ones who overloaded the staff in the first place! That is not management. So-called managers reap what they sow' - CaptainFillosan
*'I trust you will all be as happy and buoyant when he eventually goes after the pilots - which he most assuredly will' - Boy
*'Personally, I don't think he'll come after the pilots or the cabin crew. Far too unionised. He picked a very soft target in order to create an image for himself' - Scottie
*'It's about time someone in senior management carried the can for their mistakes, like spending close to £300m on a computer system that doesn't work' - Jet II
*'FINALLY! A staff cut which starts with the management. Never thought I'd see it. I hope the idea spreads' - Avman
*'If the staff cuts start with the management, it makes it rather easier to force through staff cuts elsewhere because you've removed the normal 'what about the overstaffed management' line of defence' - Flightrider
*'WW is the sharpest. . .you'll find. He'll get a wave of support from shareholders for this move. You've bannedfox hunting in the UKbut union hunting is open season now for young Willy' - Bearcat
*'Please try to remember that, whatever their job title, these cuts affect real people' - BA-Beancounter
Published: December 2 2005 02:00 | Last updated: December 2 2005 02:00
Comments from pilots posted on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network at www.pprune.com
*'I told you he'd do it. . .city boys love will this' - Bearcat
*'And you know what? No one will even notice they're missing' - Team Player
*'And. . .those self-same managers who are going are the ones who overloaded the staff in the first place! That is not management. So-called managers reap what they sow' - CaptainFillosan
*'I trust you will all be as happy and buoyant when he eventually goes after the pilots - which he most assuredly will' - Boy
*'Personally, I don't think he'll come after the pilots or the cabin crew. Far too unionised. He picked a very soft target in order to create an image for himself' - Scottie
*'It's about time someone in senior management carried the can for their mistakes, like spending close to £300m on a computer system that doesn't work' - Jet II
*'FINALLY! A staff cut which starts with the management. Never thought I'd see it. I hope the idea spreads' - Avman
*'If the staff cuts start with the management, it makes it rather easier to force through staff cuts elsewhere because you've removed the normal 'what about the overstaffed management' line of defence' - Flightrider
*'WW is the sharpest. . .you'll find. He'll get a wave of support from shareholders for this move. You've bannedfox hunting in the UKbut union hunting is open season now for young Willy' - Bearcat
*'Please try to remember that, whatever their job title, these cuts affect real people' - BA-Beancounter
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ShortfinalFred is right. There will be blood on the carpet over the final salary pension scheme next year, either Willie Walsh's or ours. Most people I fly with are, at the moment, confident they would strike over it, although we have not seen the proposals yet. Willie Walsh will no doubt frame the options to divide the community, but at the end of next year either:
a. The pilots will have a final salary scheme still.
b. They will be on a career average scheme and BALPA will be utterly broken and discredited.
c. BA will be no more.
a. The pilots will have a final salary scheme still.
b. They will be on a career average scheme and BALPA will be utterly broken and discredited.
c. BA will be no more.
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Don't forget Willie used to be a pilot before he became a manager. This could explain why management were the first in his sights.
Walsh WAS a pilot in ALT - but in order to prove his credentials as a MANAGER and CEO he demonstrated his divorce from his previous career through a sustained campaign of gratuitous and vicious attacks - not just on just his ex-colleagues pay and conditions - but even on the very status of their profession. He never missed a chance in a media interview to tell the world how "boring" it was being a pilot, and how much more mentally challenging and varied his new position was.
As to him being Irish and running BA....I'm Irish, and I couldn't give a toss. I hope he goes down in flames.
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I do not think we have much to worry about. This is just a spin for the press and shareholders. The press has fallen for it big time as indeed have some oy you. Many of the people that leave will already be identified and will no doubt have better roles to move to within the industry. I believe there is a managers job somewhere in Portsmouth.
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Willie - common sense...BACX
So which of our deadbeat management team is Willie going to get rid of first?PH? DD? CP? (Very likely I reckon), it will be good to see. Hopefully, Willie will supply some much needed basic business sense on how to run a regional low cost model, probably bring us to LGW to show how it can be done (Like CityFlyer did before they were fu##ed byt mainline management). The future suddenly looks a lot brighter. I larf and larf to see the furrowed brows and the extra meetings between the numpties at the top of BACX.
Best single move - get rid of Evans, followed by CP.
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I have to ask (because I don't know) How many of those you have mentioned have a mainline contract? Presumably if they are employed by BACX they are not affected by the new announcement??
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Tandemrotor, the answer is none.
Best thing Willy could do is sell BACX to PH, DD and CP in the form of a management buy-out. DE would get a nice hand-shake prior to his retirement. Willy and BA could then concentate on LHR and LGW.
Best thing Willy could do is sell BACX to PH, DD and CP in the form of a management buy-out. DE would get a nice hand-shake prior to his retirement. Willy and BA could then concentate on LHR and LGW.
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Mr Walsh is going to have a field day over the next couple of years, I'm confident of that.
Why so confident? Because BA is the fattest, laziesy, most inefficient airline in the UK and most of Europe! There is such a vast layer of flab to hack away at that Walsh is in no danger of reaching any vital organs for some considerable time.
As for the confidence expressed by pilots on this thread that their lifestyles are safe, they're in for a big shock. Walsh is from the real world. The real world is clearly not something many BA pilots are familiar with. Some hints of that ignorance are on this thread. Much blatant, sickening evidence has been posted over the years. Well brace yourselves, it's all going to change soon!
Why so confident? Because BA is the fattest, laziesy, most inefficient airline in the UK and most of Europe! There is such a vast layer of flab to hack away at that Walsh is in no danger of reaching any vital organs for some considerable time.
As for the confidence expressed by pilots on this thread that their lifestyles are safe, they're in for a big shock. Walsh is from the real world. The real world is clearly not something many BA pilots are familiar with. Some hints of that ignorance are on this thread. Much blatant, sickening evidence has been posted over the years. Well brace yourselves, it's all going to change soon!
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Here we go yet again! The overpaid ad cossetted primadonna pilots point at the bloated and lazy management structure who point at the overpaid preening cabin crew who point at the blah blah....
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I have to take exception with a number of commentators. We at BA in general will continue to live of the fat of the land for a number of years to come. Little is going to change as the Board is already concerned about the transition to T5. This can only be deemed a sucess with the staff on board. For WW to come down hard on all the staff would be suicidal and cannot be achieved with the current junior and middle management, who would have to be honest with themselves first of all. As one said little will change in the next few years.
Lets us not forget there is still no catering on some flights the 'Gate Goumet' yet to be resolved. The union reps that allegedly caused the strike still sitting at home on full pay. If WW wants put up get these things sorted and sack a few people to ensure staff focus on their future?
Lets us not forget there is still no catering on some flights the 'Gate Goumet' yet to be resolved. The union reps that allegedly caused the strike still sitting at home on full pay. If WW wants put up get these things sorted and sack a few people to ensure staff focus on their future?
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Here's an alternative scenario (in case you did'nt read the article in The Independent last week). With T5 about 800 days away the ramp staff need to be very wary. Their working conditions simply will not apply in T5. They need to be re-written by the end of 2006 and WW is in no mood for appeasement. BA have got the TGWU by the balls. The three suspended shop stewards, sitting at home on full pay, have been singing like canaries, telling BA that Tony Woodley personally told them to strike. BA can sack them any time for gross misconduct, ridding themselves of three trouble making employees. If the TGWU attempt a legal strike BA can sue them, and Tony Woodley, for £45M pounds in damages for the illegal strike and they'll break the TGWU. Or, they can simply keep on squeezing those balls and force through all sorts of unpopular changes that'll make the ramp staff actually earn their pay whilst the TGWU is too scared to oppose them.
As for Gate Gourmet, the game is up there. It's over 90 days since the staff were sacked and now GG is free to hire replacement staff. Catering is normal on long haul flights and on many European flights. Only the shortest routes and the domestics remain below normal levels and that situation is due to be resolved very soon. Most of the sacked staff remain sacked, Tony Woodley has failed to get them their jobs back, even the pickets have left the roundabout and gone home. All round it's been a very embarassing period for the union.
As for Gate Gourmet, the game is up there. It's over 90 days since the staff were sacked and now GG is free to hire replacement staff. Catering is normal on long haul flights and on many European flights. Only the shortest routes and the domestics remain below normal levels and that situation is due to be resolved very soon. Most of the sacked staff remain sacked, Tony Woodley has failed to get them their jobs back, even the pickets have left the roundabout and gone home. All round it's been a very embarassing period for the union.
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I'm sure that Accor Hotels (the largest hotel conglomerate in the world - the chaps that run IBIS) and the Intercontinental Hotels Group (the chaps that run Holiday Inn Express) will be pleasantly surprised to know that they are being deemed "small hotel/motels"
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You guys have it good
>>posted 30th November 2005 12:16
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I trust you will all be as happy and buoyant when he eventually goes after the pilots - which he most assuredly will.<<<
Don't know who the big wheel you are talking about is, but if he's getting rid of dead wood management, you guys should be glad you've got him.
Over on this side of the pond, our so-called "management" goes after pilots, FA's, and mechanics first....then they themselves pop their golden parachutes and voila ! Another carrier down the tubes.
And here's the good part: These geniuses take a year or two sabbatical in the Caribbean and then come back and do it all over again at another property.
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I trust you will all be as happy and buoyant when he eventually goes after the pilots - which he most assuredly will.<<<
Don't know who the big wheel you are talking about is, but if he's getting rid of dead wood management, you guys should be glad you've got him.
Over on this side of the pond, our so-called "management" goes after pilots, FA's, and mechanics first....then they themselves pop their golden parachutes and voila ! Another carrier down the tubes.
And here's the good part: These geniuses take a year or two sabbatical in the Caribbean and then come back and do it all over again at another property.
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For Acbus 1
OK when did you fail your BA interview?
One of the most profitable airlines under current times cannot also be the most inefficient.
With WW there will be change, some good and well needed, some bad. No one will dispute that. Historically when BA catches a cold other airlines can suffer pneumonia. You are obviously extreme confident of your position...good luck.
Why so confident? Because BA is the fattest, laziesy, most inefficient airline in the UK and most of Europe! There is such a vast layer of flab to hack away at that Walsh is in no danger of reaching any vital organs for some considerable time.
One of the most profitable airlines under current times cannot also be the most inefficient.
With WW there will be change, some good and well needed, some bad. No one will dispute that. Historically when BA catches a cold other airlines can suffer pneumonia. You are obviously extreme confident of your position...good luck.
the lunatic fringe
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... and with Longhaul pilots, in vast numbers, up against the 900 hour limit.
Acbus 1: Your post tells us nothing about BA. What it does do, is tell us loads about you.
L337
Acbus 1: Your post tells us nothing about BA. What it does do, is tell us loads about you.
L337
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I know nothing of BA but all we have heard about for years, if not decades, is news of staff cuts which are sometimes in the 10s of thousands. How overmanned was this set-up in the first place? The best of luck to all the dedicated employees of all skill types who make it all work while having to live in the uncomfortable atmosphere of cuts.