Why are people so anti-BA cabin crew?

[OzzieO]

I have tried to refrain from getting into this debate but with my blood pressure about to go sky high I really do need to know why people are so anti- BA cabin crew?

The one and only reason what I can think off is jealousy. Please put me right because I really am baffled on this point.

[malachy8985]

It's jealousy for sure, I worked for Astraeus and they disliked BA, one senior who took the mick out of BA, was loud, brassy, common and couldn't get into BA if her life depended on it.

That's the sort of people BA like to keep out and Astraeus like to take on. Go figure.

BA is the best airline, best flying environment, best salary, best everything. Give me BA over any other airline, ever.

It's like the 'HARRODS' of the aviation world, were some airlines are like the Primark.

[sixmilehighclub]

OK, before any smarties start to jump on malachy's post, not many people are aware that Harrods Aviation is actually an airline, they don't advertise commercially after all. Nice little airline though!

BA has its good, not so good and terrible points. As with any airline, some crew are good, some are bad. If any airline was perfect, it would be everyones preference, and there wouldn't be so many around right? Some people have unrealistic expectations. Everyone has preferences, everyone has opinions, and unfortunately there are millions out there who aren't open minded and only value their own opinion. Some people are always right.

Wouldn't life be boring without this variety?

As far as BA crew are concerned, it's a big airline, there are 13,000. Compare to 'xyz' airlines with 2000 crew. If 20 percent of crew are crap at their job thats 400 bad crew in 'xyz' airlines and 2600 in BA.

BA being bigger, unfortunately it is easier for those bad ones to blend in and go unnoticed. Passengers do see them, but few rarely complain to those who can change it. They just find another outlet to air their feelings.

[keeperboy]

sixmilehighclub you are so right!

BA is a great company to work for, but it has it's cons as well!

Here is Keeperboys two pence worth: :D

Things I like about working for BA:
- Great money
- Great conditions/time off/rest/Rules etc
- Professional management
- Loads of destinations

Things I don't like about working for BA:
- So big sometimes you can walk through the crew centre, see 100 other crew and not know anyone and few people acknowledge/smile at each other etc.
- You have to be the sort of person who likes your own company on long trips as generally the crew aren't as social as at other airlines (the 'been there done that' menatility) lol
- Totally and utterly seniority driven....for everything.
- Everyone seems to hate the cabin crew at BA....the pilots, management, ground staff.
- The travel benefits... :*

Things I liked about working for Virgin:
- It was young and fun
- things felt new and fresh.
- Small enough to get to know people/social
- Nice destinations
- Brilliant travel benefits

Things I didn't like about working for Virgin:
- Money was a joke.
- Amount of days off after trips.
- Sometimes could be a bit competitive in regards to promotion etc.
- Not much union representation, crappy rules, etc

Things I liked about working for bmi:
- People (ie other crew/ground staff) were brilliant.
- Was social/small
- Money could be ok-ish with night-stopping.

Things I didn't like about working for bmi:
- Rules were non-exisitent they could work you til you dropped dead.
- The management were unhelpful and unprofessional.
- You could never plan your life as the roster disruption was incredible.

[MaximumPete]

There are some excellent people working in the cabin for BA but like any large organisation it has it's share of "jobsworths".

Please don't knock them all.

MP;)

[feet dry]

Dons tin helmet for the final chukka....

Ozzie, the answer you seek for the question as posed can be found in the reply of malachy.

regards

[OZcabincrew]

as said, every airline has their good and bad apples! its just unfortunate that the bad apples exist as there are plenty of good apples out there more than willing to take their job. Sometimes they just need to be reminded of this.

Oz

[TheOddOne]

Firstly, we should all recognise that cabin crew are there to save our lives when the 'plane crashes. Hopefully, we'll never know how well they'll carry out their 'core function', but in the past there have been some amazing acts of bravery and heroism from cabin crew. Next time you're at LHR, visit St. George's Chapel underground under the Control Tower and see the memorial to the lady who died trying to rescue 2 elderly pax from a BOAC 707...

Then watch the video of the Sioux City DC10 crash and note the testimony of the surviving crew. These people CARE.

To me, this brings the whole thing into proper perspective.

Of course, 99% of crew will go through an entire career without having to exercise those core skills. Meantime, we pax expect them to be airborne servants and complain when they don't live up to our fantasies.

I last flew with BA almost a year ago - a 777 full of families off to Orlando. I thought the service was great, as did the rest of our party. They really made an effort to tailor the offering to the load they were carrying.

PLEASE stop slagging each other off, it ain't clever and it ain't funny. Recognise the REAL reason you're all there.

Cheers,
TheOddOne

[pollypocket36]

Well said TheOddOne. At the end of the day does it really matter who we work for? Different airline but same job.

Polly

[malachy8985]

Polly pocket,

Yes, It does matter who you work for, i'm afraid not all airlines are the same and the work is different between charter and scheduled.

I used to work for Astraeus, and we worked hard, had a our commission taken away each month, one month I was left with £5.00???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

I'm happier where I am, I know I will be earning lots more, and the work is much easier, and less stressful than Charter, BYE BYE night flights to MALTA.

So, in my honest opinion it does make a difference, and just for the record when I started out, I knew one guy, who didn't like Astraeus and left straight saying it was not the airline for him, and he was an experienced flyer.

[homesick rae]

As ex Cabin Crew, still in the industry, I travel a lot from the US to Europe and Mid East, as well as internally in the US and to The Caribbean.

My airline of choice across the pond is VS purely because they are consistently good. The crew have a friendly outgoing attitude and nothing is a problem for them.

I have experienced with BA that the crew do a great job, but that's it..they do their job then hide behind the galley curtains.

The last flight, in January, to the UK the VS flight was delayed and we were put on BA. The flight, I have to say, was superb, but I wonder if it would have been so had there not be two ex colleagues of mine working the cabin?

I saw evidence of an extremely nice touch by the CSD on that flight. Some IFEs were u/s so he decided to let the affected pax choose something from duty free to a certain value which pacified the pax.

I believe that it is possibly jealousy with some people or it maybe that the minority at BA have an attitude problem in some people's eyes. but to be honest it comes with any airline.

For me, it was initially triggered off by an incident many years ago, but that's in the past and I could never say I hate BA cabin Crew. I have many friends at BA. Plus, the word hate is very strong. However, I do feel that possibly they are trained to do their job and do it well, but no need to exceed expectations as far as service is concerned...safety is the main reason why we are there.

This just a personal opinion and I am certainly not interested in a slagging match. I WILL travel BA again due to my job and I will always have a keen eye on how the service and crew are, but I hope that I will not go through one experience I had when I was told there was no red wine on board. This was 45 mins after I asked! I asked for white and was met by a steely glare and basically told to get out the galley, why I am mixing my drinks, crashing and banging of trays etc...then, and only then did I come close to writing a complaint, but instead I simply did not travel with them...until January this year.

We are all in the same industry, well most of us, and we should respect that. Who knows one day we may have to help each other. Let's keep it that way.

Enjoy the blue horizons and keep safe.

Cheers

HR

[keeperboy]

BA really did have a big image problem in the 80's and 'BA' really stood for 'Bad Attitude'! Being crew for BA was literally akin to being a government employee/civil servant. Mass redundancies took place in the 80's and 90's and many of the 'civil servants' took the payout and left.

Do you think that people's attitude to BA today could be a bit of a 'hang over' effect from the bad/arrogant service they (or people they know) received in the 80's or early 90's? When an airline has p**sed someone off it is really difficult for that person to forgive!

I disagree with homesick rae though. I used to work for VS and still use them loads to fly about as my other half still works for them (so gets MUCH better concessions than I do!). When they are good they are brilliant. When they are not good they are the worst. You either have a brillant flight with them or a crap one. It all seems to depend on how well (or not) the crew have gelled with each other. What has transpired downroute, what x has said about y, the reputation of z etc etc. At BA the mentality is different. Most time you don't even bother to get to know everyone's name on the jumbo (you probably won't see them again for another 5 years), it is more a sort of 'get on, do your job (well), get off and see the crew when you report for your next flight' mentality. I never have a 'brilliant' or a 'crap' flight on BA. I just always find it consistently good/average. Thats just my experience anyway.

There is a good website, Skytrax at www.airlinequality.com It has loads of passenger 'opinions' and 'flight reviews' on BA, virgin, bmi and just about everyone else. Makes interesting reading!

[teamilkandone]

agree with Malachy, after 17 years of flying with 5 different airlines, BA is definately the best. :-)