That's going to be a big problem because most of the long trips are at LGW, at LHR on E/F and WW most of the trips are just three days.

I think they will need to do something about it or people will leave because as you say, you need long trips to make the hourly rate work and even if you got some of the longer LHR trips, and there really aren't that many, there would not be enough to go around.

You do need either a higher basic or a higher hourly rate.

Good luck, I hope the company take note but in reality, they probably wont until too many people start to leave!!

That's a pleasure.

Thank you for the replies from the mixed fleet crew. I think that is exactly what people want to know. Please keep it coming and ignore the trolls. Your part of the BA family and should be involved on every forum.

On the pay issue, we were benchmarked against other full service carriers at LGW back when we became single fleet (2006 if I remember rightly). We were assured we were paid slightly better. On the whole most people are happy with our pay. I'd say it's a very fair wage.

My personal thoughts were BA were going to just use the LGW blueprint for mixed fleet LHR and mirror what we did. Especially when it was advertised by BF as Market rate plus 10%. Has the Market rate dropped that much?

Our scheduling agreement is also "fair" and makes up for most the slight lack of pennies. Yes, there are a few items that could be tweaked, but we've always seemed ready to negotiate here at LGW.

Whilst we do not have a quarterly bonus to look forward to which might help (has one been paid yet as the fleet has been going 6 months?), my bills come monthly, and surely a bonus is exactly that.... a bonus, not part salary as it can't be guaranteed.

Anyway..... Look forward to hearing more, as I know do others.

Well Vintagekrug we are going to have to differ on certain points here.Smell the coffee was not saying that £1100 was a monthly average ,he said you would be lucky to achieve this figure.....implying that some months you may earn less.
They are not earning anywhere near the "market rate plus 10 %" that BF initially promised.....(unless you can provide some pertinant proof that they are).
If some NF member could explain the bonus system that would be interesting,however, I am led to believe that it is determined by your sickness record.i.e if you report sick during that period.....no bonus.
What do you think about the fact that all these new recruits were told that they were 'outstanding' and the 'elite' when they passed selection....do you not think that they would like to do more than 3 years with BA before moving on to a job that pays better.If pay is not reviewed and with inflation erroding their spending power weekly,most will be forced to do something else maybe well before the three years is up.
Plus LCCsmay not do the same type of work but they take home £1800 plus per month.However much you love your job if you struggle to pay the bills at the end of every month it is going to get you down.

I'd be interested to hear what people's actual average monthly take home is on MF. I currently work for a LCC and my take home pay averaged over the last tax year is £1287. Quite a way off the 1800 quoted above.

Pilots perspective
 

I am a 777 pilot with BA, so I fly with LHR WW, LGW and MF crews.

The vast majority of CC on all 3 fleets are an absolute pleasure to fly with. I have rarely had an issue with any, even at the height of the IA. These are my perspectives on the 3 different fleets.

LHR WW - the service is generally very polished, and everyone knows how it works. It is rare to find a crewmember who has been flying for BA less than 10 years.

LGW - very high service levels. The lower age/experience of the LGW cc is made up for by their Can Do mentality and fun approach to the job that suits the leisure routes they fly.

MF - MF is trying to set very high standards. The standard presented to the customer is excellent, but the inexperience with the BA product/SOP shows in the galley. This is not meant as a criticism - you cannot expect a FTC/CSM with 3 months experience in BA to be as au fait with the "BA Way" as someone doing it 20 years. Where MF have the edge, is their determination to be good, and give the customer what they want. I flew with LGW crew at the start of SFLGW, and the same was true then. I fully expect MF and LGW to be very similar in service levels very quickly.

In summary, I enjoy all my flights, with all different fleets. The service we give to the pax is, I believe, consistently better than most western airlines.

I am led to believe the rostering issues are being looked at. The pilots have fed their dissatisfaction with some of the rosters up the chain, and we have been assured it is in hand.

In terms of pay, personally I feel it is a little on the low side. I wouldn't be surprised if it is tweaked a little, especially if a lot of crew leave. BA see new fleet as the blueprint for their future, so it is in their interest to make it work.

For all wannabe cabin crew, it was great when BA started recruiting, for most people it was a chance to get into BA and hopefully a secure Airline.(inc myself)


The pay 11,000 all ex crew who took the job read t/c, however (inc myself) crew know that basic is low but will normally make it up with flight pay, alas this is not happening due to lack of flights short layovers etc etc. typical pay so far 1st month and 2nd months 792(during traning hence expected). 3rd month 892 just on line 4th month full month 990 all after tax and £100 used on host.

To get csm is hard as one does not know what they are really looking for, I know crew who have 10 years plus as seniors who seem not to be able to get it, and crew with no senior experience and less than 5 years no wide body experience getting csm positions, but i guess that is just down to interview on the day, but I feel BA are not looking at CV of past experience and are missing out on real experience around esp for MF

MF crew are a great bunch, so anyone wishing to join should do so, the money is an issue but this may get better.

As for me loved my time here, had a chance to follow my dream, however did not work out due to low pay at present, which i say may go up, but cannot risk it.

A for bad feelngs to be honest have not met any crew member from any fleet who has been rude or ignored me, so i feel this us and them attitude may be a myth, all personal experience of course.


All in all if its your dream to work for ba by all means go for it,just because it has not worked out for me does not mean the same for you.

In time i am sure all will get much better (pay that is).

The best of luck to all on all fleets:)

Sorry to here of your experience Ollie, good luck for what ever you do next. I've no bones at all to pick with MF crew,people need jobs and there are so few around, but, with the best will in the world, the concept of MF is low pay. Paying more defeats the object. This is the waterstones model Bill Francis talked of. Crew do a few seasons and move on.

I sincerely wish better for MF crew, who I have no doubt are commited hard workers, but Walsh now boasts of having the lowest employee costs and he will not want to lose that acolade. Sorry.

questions about mixed fleet
 

Hello,
I am new and wish to ask questions as i hope to join
how does it work when you do shorthaul exp Budapest
how many time a day do you do it?
do you come back to the UK and are able to sleep at home?
now or the longhaul if you do a LA how will be your day
will you stay there the whole day and ly back that evening?
Do you have to pay your meals while away .
Do you need to be at the Airport 2 hours beore the flight depart?
Sorry i am not from the UK and wish to know more.
Have all a good day:)

PC767
unfortunatley people are leaving after a few months as the pay seems to be so bad.If things dont improve for MF crew,any benifits BA gain by paying such a low salary will be outweighed by the costs of trainning new entrants,providing them with uniforms,inconsistancies in service standards....etc....etc

tomkins you make it sound like lots of crew are leaving MF. This is not true. In the first 5 months that is upto 31st March 2011 we lost 11. Yes 11. That turn over is to be expected and is actually alot less than was predicted. Employment outside the airline industry is hard to find and the salary on offer is competitive. I am not saying it could not be better but it is competitive. Service standards can only get better. Yes several of the routes operated by MF are at the bottom of the Customer Service levels we have seen but as crew become experianced then PRG, LAS, MRU and DEN will improve.

Prism,
I am not privy to the numbers who have left New Fleet already;I am just commenting having read the posts of certain NF crew who have posted on this forum and one other forum, plus comments from friends who know crew who have started on the NF,and comments from many pilots who have flown on NF routes.All are saying that the NF experience is very successfull the only complaints being about pay and rosters.taking home around £1000 per month with living costs as high as they are,seems a no brainer to me,it is not enough to live on....as for using your perks of staff travel....you will never be able to save enough to use it.
As to being competative ,would you post some info that backs up your claim.Thanks.
As to people leaving,I would put it to you that most people don't go for a job that they passionatley want to do and give it up within a few months,most would say "I'll give it six months and hope things get better"....I hope it does for their sakes.

I have spoken to my manager about how many Mixed Fleet crew are leaving.

She said that so far it is a 3% turnover but that those figures were for up to the end of February.

She said that BA do want a high turnover but it is a surprise to many, that they have this level of turnover, in a brand new fleet that has only just started with predominantly new staff!

I think that the figure may be higher now as I recently spoke to a Mixed Fleet Future Talent crew member and she said she new of a lot that were actively looking for jobs with other airlines. I have heard that it is mostly those that thought they would be able to cope with a long commute that are leaving as it is proving very hard to do on M/F.

tita44,
You need to post your question on Cabin Crew Wannabes and read all the threads for your answers.

Current turnover is up to 6%, BA are happy for it to be upto 30%. The current thinking for MF is that for most crew it will be something that they undertake for 3-4 years and then they move onto other things. Some they will expect to stay on and to make a career of being CC but that will not be the norm. What they do not want to happen is that the majority of people join and then stay on for 25 - 30 years with the associated increase in their employment costs that are caused by incremental pay increases and their attendant pensions contributions. However, MF is only projected to be 42% of all CC 10 years after it's inception and no-one will be forced to either leave of move to MF. I am not sure what the position is regarding promotion of current WW and EF CC.

30% ?

Where did you come across this information?

That is my understanding also Juan. Existing fleets will have promotion as and when it becomes available. A severance deal could change this situation very quickly but at this moment in time the Company's hands are tied. There are many Pursers who want to go but the Company can not let people go until the Industrial situation is sorted. Clearly there are problems with the number of PSRS and we now have hundreds of pursers working down as main crew due to a shortage of main crew but a massive surplus of pursers. We are also recruiting 120 people per month to join MF till the year end.

Talking to managers. Perhaps I misquoted when I said BA would be "happy" with 30%, rather upto this figure would be within the planning assumptions made when MF was set up. As I said the concept of MF is not one of long term careers with their associated high costs, the model is one of high turn over and fresh faces. Ultimately the labour market will decide on what the turnover is and there will a training cost implication in a high turnover rate. This will have to be balanced against the higher costs of long term retention of MF crew. It may well be a strategy that only works in the short term while the world economy is still struggling, as the economy picks up and jobs become easier to find the turnover rate may well increase to an unsustainable level and T&Cs will improve, but at the moment BA are not concerned about the turnover rate. It is, however, early days.

By the by, I am merely reporting things that I have heard from sources that I consider to be reliable. Please do not infer or conclude that I am defending these opinions, they are not mine but just things that I have heard, also feel free to believe others if you think they have more concrete information.

New routes
 

Just announced...

July will be Rio and Hamburg.

August will be Phoenix.

Get out the suntan lotion....

Both fab destinations.....recommend the reperbhan sorry for the spelling....its an eye opener:E.Rio is great.. make the most of it before it goes to 6 times a week in dec

I have just come back from GIG and I could not believe how expensive it has become since my last trip there over a year ago.

A four course dinner with wine was over £50, when it was half that not so long ago.