Kent Brockman
23rd Dec 2001, 16:24
Dateline - 01 January 2004
easyJet announces first transatlantic services to New York in the wake of the BA restructuring...
eJ share prices jumps 20% and reaches all-time high of 747 pence.
eJ spokesperson details aircraft, frequencies and most importantly, ticket price...............
Looking back at the Stelios success story, the reason he quotes for easyJets dominace of the transport sector is "all down to costs".....
Having expanded the Gatwick base significantly way back in 2002 on the tail of the BA downsizing, this was his "foot in the door" say's Stelios.
While the various working groups within BA argued over salary scales being the problem (oldtimers on high salaries and newcomers on less than eJ's rates), this proved not to be the companies achillies heel.
It is blinding obvious now to BA management that the real reason was extremely high amounts of "non-productive" staff (something BALPA and others had pointed out at the time!!). Looking back we said we could not make a profit on shorthaul, but clearly this was wrong as British Midland hade been making a profits with a similar product on shorthaul for years. A BALPA spokesman said today that "we should have been much more forcefull with the BA management at the time....."
As BA reduced routes but failed to reduce "head office" staff, the remaining routes had to carry a greater load, leading to more route cuts....
One pilot said "senior management did not come into the cockpit to tell me how to fly, so I felt it reasonable to trust them to do their job......"
The reducing shorthaul network meant fewer longhaul passengers, which led to a reducing longhaul network..........
Staff, many with long service, many with long service to come, or so they thought, witnessed a familiar pattern (Marconi et al) of senior directors leaving with million pound hanshakes and (and now as it turns out, useless) share options, whilst they the staff left with, as that game show host would say some years ago, nothing.
The good news is that many of the flying staff and essential ground staff have been offered employment with easyWorld, the name of the new longhaul arm of easyJet.
The final word from Stelios is "companies that fail to adapt to the realities of today's market, simply fail!".
Remember, you heard it first with Kent!!
easyJet announces first transatlantic services to New York in the wake of the BA restructuring...
eJ share prices jumps 20% and reaches all-time high of 747 pence.
eJ spokesperson details aircraft, frequencies and most importantly, ticket price...............
Looking back at the Stelios success story, the reason he quotes for easyJets dominace of the transport sector is "all down to costs".....
Having expanded the Gatwick base significantly way back in 2002 on the tail of the BA downsizing, this was his "foot in the door" say's Stelios.
While the various working groups within BA argued over salary scales being the problem (oldtimers on high salaries and newcomers on less than eJ's rates), this proved not to be the companies achillies heel.
It is blinding obvious now to BA management that the real reason was extremely high amounts of "non-productive" staff (something BALPA and others had pointed out at the time!!). Looking back we said we could not make a profit on shorthaul, but clearly this was wrong as British Midland hade been making a profits with a similar product on shorthaul for years. A BALPA spokesman said today that "we should have been much more forcefull with the BA management at the time....."
As BA reduced routes but failed to reduce "head office" staff, the remaining routes had to carry a greater load, leading to more route cuts....
One pilot said "senior management did not come into the cockpit to tell me how to fly, so I felt it reasonable to trust them to do their job......"
The reducing shorthaul network meant fewer longhaul passengers, which led to a reducing longhaul network..........
Staff, many with long service, many with long service to come, or so they thought, witnessed a familiar pattern (Marconi et al) of senior directors leaving with million pound hanshakes and (and now as it turns out, useless) share options, whilst they the staff left with, as that game show host would say some years ago, nothing.
The good news is that many of the flying staff and essential ground staff have been offered employment with easyWorld, the name of the new longhaul arm of easyJet.
The final word from Stelios is "companies that fail to adapt to the realities of today's market, simply fail!".
Remember, you heard it first with Kent!!