British Airways
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Manchester, England
Age: 58
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BA, like many long established corporates has a 'culture' and each new generation of staff who join find themselves unable to break through that culture. I have seen this in many enterprises, not just airlines.
It is all part of the human desire to keep things the way that they were and difficulty in seeing what they might become. Which is how old companies die and new ones are born. In the (I think) late 1970s, British Rail experimented with ways to reduce cost of their multiple diesel units on small routes. They took a body from a coach and put it on bogies (obviously more complicated than that!) but it didn't work. Many years later, it came out that some of the senior BR men had thought, "It didn't look like a train" Sums it up.
It is all part of the human desire to keep things the way that they were and difficulty in seeing what they might become. Which is how old companies die and new ones are born. In the (I think) late 1970s, British Rail experimented with ways to reduce cost of their multiple diesel units on small routes. They took a body from a coach and put it on bogies (obviously more complicated than that!) but it didn't work. Many years later, it came out that some of the senior BR men had thought, "It didn't look like a train" Sums it up.
Join Date: Apr 2008
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Sad news today about BA CC - I can’t however help but think members should not have put their blind trust in the intransigent and frankly incompetent BASSA reps. A policy of not talking and saying no to everything for months (until it was too late) was, like previously, never going to end well. Whilst BALPA may not have got a great deal, the engagement and constructive talks at least prevented a far worse outcome. Sad.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: London, UK
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BA’s cabin crew reps have never done their members any favours, being far more interested in the politics than the staff. Previous management (and I’m going back 20 odd years) pandered to the unions and BASSA can’t get its head round the fact that those days are over. These are terrible times for the industry and if the union reps can’t recognise that they should be put the door.
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: London
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It's very sad. History repeats itself and a lot of good people have got caught in the middle of it all.
Can't help but notice how in the 2009/2010 BA CC dispute Len McCluskey was happy to take a prominent role towards the end as he was running his campaign for the leadership of Unite, yet in the past week he has given major interviews to The Observer, BBC etc all about Labour Party politics.
It's also no coincidence that after the 2009/2010 dispute, BA's approach to industrial relations negotiations has hardened considerably.
Can't help but notice how in the 2009/2010 BA CC dispute Len McCluskey was happy to take a prominent role towards the end as he was running his campaign for the leadership of Unite, yet in the past week he has given major interviews to The Observer, BBC etc all about Labour Party politics.
It's also no coincidence that after the 2009/2010 dispute, BA's approach to industrial relations negotiations has hardened considerably.
Sad news today about BA CC - I can’t however help but think members should not have put their blind trust in the intransigent and frankly incompetent BASSA reps. A policy of not talking and saying no to everything for months (until it was too late) was, like previously, never going to end well. Whilst BALPA may not have got a great deal, the engagement and constructive talks at least prevented a far worse outcome. Sad.
160 Eng staff have taken VR gods knows how many more are being made CR this weekend!
It probably would have been cheaper to tarmac the line anad make it single track with passing places to be used only by buses and coaches. No expensive track maintenance, no expensive signalling, simple, cheap one-man operation by bus crews and at key points and termini the bus could leave the "permanent way" and toodle off into the road network - but the rail people would have seen another Beeching.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: London
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Turin you are right of course and my sympathies go out to them too. I only feel able to comment on CC as I know the detail and have first hand experience of the BASSA reps - crew have been badly let down by them (again) imo and they have never taken a pragmatic approach. The days of BASSA holding the senior management of BA to ransom are long gone and they simply haven’t adapted their approach to take account of this. Bully tactics of BASSA just don’t work anymore and they willl need to take a long hard look in the mirror at how many of these job losses can be attributed to them. I’m not saying BA’s approach has been right (far from it) but a strategy of no engagement, refusing to accept the reality and advising members not to talk was crazy. As I said, BALPA have hardly got their desired outcome but it could have been a lot worse ! BASSA/Unite now saying give us the pilots deal is a bit late and a bit ironic - had they engaged (like BALPA) maybe they would have got something a bit more like that hard fought deal.
In typical Unite fashion I heard the Assistant General Secretary on the radio just banging on about the pilots having got a better deal.
Well maybe the ‘Ostrich’ style of negotiating has brought about the usual result for the cabin crew.
I also read that BASSA reps were still advising members not to take the VR offer as late as Thursday meaning if they listened to that advice on Friday they were likely redundant.
What a joke they really are.
Well maybe the ‘Ostrich’ style of negotiating has brought about the usual result for the cabin crew.
I also read that BASSA reps were still advising members not to take the VR offer as late as Thursday meaning if they listened to that advice on Friday they were likely redundant.
What a joke they really are.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Uttoxeter
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Believe it or not, the venerable 142 Pacer is still in service on a few select routes form Manchesters Piccadilly and Victoria stations. I drive them for a living and they are by far most drivers favourite train. Anyway, back to BA.....
Compulsory redundancy within Engineering now on hold until the results of a TU /EJSS meeting on 12th August. Possibly a ballot of members but no idea whether that is to accept the latest company deal or take unilateral industrial action.
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: South East
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6 second hand E190s to replace the 6 E170s leaving the fleet.
Planned before well before anyone had heard of Coronavirus. 4 E170s have already left the operational fleet. Entry into the fleet presumably not until they are actually required now.
Planned before well before anyone had heard of Coronavirus. 4 E170s have already left the operational fleet. Entry into the fleet presumably not until they are actually required now.
Join Date: May 2011
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Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: UK
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Thanks for the link TURIN I had seen the article but wasn’t sure how much it could be trusted. There’s been no official statement from BA yet and I haven’t heard anything from staff. I guess the winter timetable shakeup will give us more information.
Join Date: Apr 2008
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