I was having a go at spin. Probably need a bit more practice!

Hotel Mode
 

good point... comparisons to last year have to be used in the contest of the capacity changes. This is why ASK and RPKs are used in business reviews.

I don't think BA has ever tried to say that this strike wasn't going to be hurting the company. The point that some people seem to miss is that flights were cancelled in advance. Customers have been given as much time as possible to be able to change their plans, get a refund or stick with BA. For those who did stick with us, the main issue is that we do not cancel anymore on the day they are supposed to be flying. That's the test: we have not cancelled your flight, we have promised you we will be operating (customers on wet lease have been informed it was not a BA service) and we have not let you down on the day of departure. That's all. :ugh:

I dont know, I bet a paper would publish it, they dont seem that bothered about checking stats! :ok:

But on this part alone, the figure that actually flew stood out from the norm.

Staff travel means a lot to crew - no point in denying that! The tickets might be expensier than on some airlines but ID tickets give the flexibility which particulary commuting crew needs - they are also refundable and re-bookable even if you have missed your flight.

It should be interesting to see how striking commuters will get to work in two weeks - some are saying it's Willie Walsh's fault if flights won't get crewed as he has withdrawn staff travel for strikers so they can't get to work. Maybe they should remind themselves that it's their responsibility to get to work - don't expect any sympathy from OST when they call and say they can't get to work - make a habit of it and they won't have a job.

Well, who would you be more inclined to believe, Bassa who state 5 crewmembers crossed the picket line last Saturday, and 26 on the Sunday, 20 aircraft at Shannon and 20 at Cardiff, pilots getting £500 to do the cabin crew course etc? Or BA who have a legal obligation to publish true traffic stats and would do more damage to the share price than cabin crew could ever do if the City had no confidence in its trading statements?

It wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Why should I not want to be on a plane with a striker whilst I used my staff travel tickets?

It's not a basic fact. What's a basic fact? Just because you call it a basic fact doesn't make it a fact! WW has said that as a premium airline he wants to attract the best candidates. To achieve that he wants to pay market rate + 10% for new recruits. He also said he didn't want to reduce the pay of current cabin crew, hence the choice to go to Monthly Travel payments. Plus food allowances would remain.
Why? I don't follow your logic. Surely by not striking, you are jumping ahead of all those who used to be ahead in the staff travel bunfight.
I see no reason to strike at all. Take the offer WW will make, keep your staff travel, get paid, and have a great time at work!

Why the Change
 

Understand change was finally imposed, but to be fair BA had been trying to consult and negotiate with the unions for several months, not helped by internal union politics that meant the Unite union weren't particularly 'united' in their position, making the discussions somewhat difficult.

So, whilst the company is hemorrhaging money, the un-united unite union are playing silly beggars :ugh:

The board and management have a duty to protect the long term viability of the company on a number of fronts, and whilst it is always preferable to seek agreement on any changes, there has to come a point when enough is enough and they must act. Furthermore, the courts have subsequently decided that the changes BA made (including reducing crew complement) were lawful and reasonable.

From my understanding, not all changes need to be agreed beforehand, only those that directly impact the agreed contract between the two parties. So, whilst many crew do not like the changes, they were necessary and deemed legal and reasonable :ok:

Accepting there's a number of concerns from crew (justified or otherwise), I believe the reduction of a crew member became central to the issue as to why the union couldn't reach agreement last year, and in hindsight, now seems a little sad that we've ended up where we have, and for what :sad:

Staff Travel
 

A genuine question:

If Staff Travel is deemed not a perk by Unite, and therefore cannot be removed legally, then what if HMRC suddenly decides it is a benefit in kind?

How would they tax it, and how far back could they go? Could this mean some commuters ending up with a significant tax bill?

I'm just asking a question out loud as I don't know.

DW.

Tax on staff travel
 

It doesn't matter if the benefit is contractual or not
Fir instance long service awards, good idea schemes, and staff parties etc can be taxed under certain circumstances, none of which relate to whether they are contractual or not.

In most cases, you don't see the tax as it is paid by the employer under a PSA agreement


An ID90 is deemed to cost the company less than the amount paid by the employee so no tax is payable.
An ID100 is taxable, but the employer pays the tax for you (at least they did 3 years ago when I worked for BA) under a PSA agreement.

Hope this helps

Cancellations
 

bacabincrew wrote:

Where did you get your figures from. Here are the planned and cancelled flights between 0600 and 1200 today from LHR (excludes codeshares on IB, AY, etc):

Time Total Cancelled
0600-0700 3 1
0700-0800 22 9
0800-0900 19 2
0900-1000 24 8
1000-1100 16 4
1100-1200 22 8

Total planned flights 106, total cancellations 32. So, BA operated 74 flights or 70% of flights, which is better than the plan.

BA-Beancounter
 

Thanks for the explanation.

Thought it could have been opening a can of worms, but seems safe enough.

DW.

Sorry, is 106 flights the plan or the normal none strike schedule. If 106 is the plan during industrial action then they've flown 70% of the plan. I thought BA was looking to fly 100% of the plan which would be 70% of normal. :confused:

Normal non strike schedule. Still no cancellations on any day of the strike in addition.

Several Engineers that I work with at BA have resigned from Unite this week...........the antics of BASSA and with Unite supporting them and spreading the distortions and outright lies over the last 10 days or so has finally tipped them over the edge........... ( the infamous "ill maintained aircraft " jibe probably the final straw ).......still it beats me as to why they were still with them anyway.......Unite / Amicus have never represented the views and needs of the professional Licensed engineers

Unites loss .....= ALAEs gain :ok:

I Hope all the Pickets enjoyed their "Fun Day " today :rolleyes:........... I think that they will have to get used to a lot more leisure time in the future, all that face painting etc will come in useful to fill all those long hours idling at home !!

BACABINCREW

Genuine question:

With over 60% of crew turning up for work (and yes - having been in CRC last Monday, yesterday and today I think BA's figures are fairly accurate), do you consider that Unite/BASSA are currently representing the views of the majority of BA Cabin Crew?

Christmaslights,
Good point. I was just thinking today that there's been a lot of talk of striking crew making life a little tricky for non-striking crew. But there's been no mention of non-striking crew making life tricky for strikers.

What is it that makes striking employees (changed to "employees" as opposed to "crew" as this is probably the norm across all unionised workforces) more likely to bully and intimidate?! I know I won't engage in that sort of behaviour. And I know the absolute majority of my colleagues - regardless of their position - are the same.

Hello Eddy :) You're right it does cut both ways. Last time you signed off you said you'd post us your account but I haven't seen it or have I missed it? :confused:

Unite admin strike at Gatwick has collapsed
 

On Channel 4 news at 18:30 Bryan Boyd admitted that Gatwick is working normally with words to the effect that the main issues are at LHR and that LGW doesn't really matter

Hi there GS. I have it typed up but am in two minds as to whether or not to post it :sad::uhoh:. I'm also adding to it all the time..... :hmm:

Blink 182

Many of us left Unite/Amicus a while ago. This latest own goal has just made a load of the apathetic suddenly sit up and realise who they are supporting.

ALAE all the way. :ok: