How sweet it must be to be as self assured and as righteous in the ways of the lord god as the Reverend 4468, all praise his name.

I bow down and scrape before the shining light of your wisdom and henceforth shall accept redundancy and the end of my career with as much grace as one so unworthy can manage. I am a worm, a nasty crawling thing and the wrath that BA have rained down upon my head is as justified as the fire and brimstone that was rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Halleluljah, for it is written that my utterings and even the utterings of all who do not reside in the temple of BA are as nothing in the divine light of their mightiness and I shall sod in an offwards direction forthwith in sackcloth and ashes and with wailing and weeping for I have been found wanting by the priesthood. Amen.

F*ck you flower, F*ck you very much.

Unfortunately GSS were never going to be in a position to get further customers.

GSS was always an Atlas/BA instrument used to service the Speedbird contract so that Atlas didn't lose it (for political reasons).

They are Atlas aircraft unfortunately. Any additional contracts out there would have been serviced by Atlas...not GSS.

The talk of possible extra customers for GSS over the years was just that. Talk to give the troops some hope.

Many good people at GSS...Sorry to see this is ending up in a similarly brutal state to the AACS/AABO Atlas STN base demise. Bad things sometimes happen to good people.

All the very best to everyone at GSS.

PG

GSS contract with BA terminated
 

As popgun said.

However it may still be prudent for Atlas to have use of a UK AOC should a suitable contract come along, even for just one aircraft whether it be a -400 or a -8.
I believe two of the GSS -8s are going to LUX for bridging checks before returning to Atlas and the other HKG. I don't think Atlas have found work for all 3 of them yet. With the military flying slowing down it will be hard to put these three airframes in a contract flying the same kind of block hours that they are currently flying with GSS.

GSS
 

Z. You knew the score when you left Beardy Airlines. The exact situation about secondees was made clear to you at interview but you still insisted on berating BA and the 'situation' throughout your short time in GSS. You also harp on about why you didn't get a command at VS because they only went to military guys....apparently.
I don't relish your current situation and wish you well, but just try and stop a permanent grumble wherever you end up; life is just too short.
Enjoy ORD.

Mate, knowing you as I do, I can tell you that you wouldn't have had a cat in hell's chance of a sniff at BA, even if you filled in your application on the 'right' day.
As for secondees 'stealing' your command in GSS, remember, dear chap that you would have had to pass the command training in GSS to achieve your goal.

Would it be fair to summarise the thread as IAG have found somebody to fly IAG/BA/IB's freight at a lower cost than GSS ?
I would have thought there now would be more empathy for the outrage that BA's pilots felt when the work was outsourced from them?
Pointless blaming the workers...better to blame the highly paid execs in Madrid awarding themselves nice bonuses and share options.

GSS contract with BA terminated
 

I don't know. Do BA pilots still have the same outrage regarding the BAWC freight that is currently being flown by DHL?

Nope. DHL was not formed with a sole purpose to carry out the BAWC contract, unlike GSS.

GSS contract with BA terminated
 

But BAWC had the option to purchase/dry lease their own freighters and didn't, instead choosing to wet lease from Atlas initially until BALPA/IPA intervened and GSS was formed. It appears BA pilots (such as 4468) blame GSS for the loss of this flying when maybe their own management were to blame?

Maybe 4468 has been quite 'vocal'. However, the decision to 'out-source' the BAWC contract was made by people at Alan Sugaaaar level. Pay non-mainline rates for the cargo contract. Must've been a no-brainer at the time.
I'll bow out now as I'm on my last trip and time is precious.
Good luck to all.

Popgun

The only decent thing said in the last five pages

Loved my time there

Very disappointed for a lot of very good people

GSS = yours aye = BA = BA secondees = FAILURE

Obviously a sad time for those involved, but I am surprised to see as I write, G-GSSE en-route with a BAW callsign over India and G-GSSF en-route over China, again with a BAW callsign.

As I understand it the secondees have returned to BA.

Are these continuing flights with BAW callsigns an extension to the contract or something else?

Just curious.

GSS contract with BA terminated
 

GSS have always flown with BAW or "Speedbird" call signs? It has nothing to do with secondee flying whatsoever.

When do the aircraft go back to Atlas?

One goes to Rome N.Y. today.

GTI8152 (G-GSSF) enroute to Detroit today to rejoin Atlas. Currently over Scotland. One down, two to go. :sad:


Champ

GSS contract with BA terminated
 

STN-AMS-DTW-RME. One gone :-(

G-GSSF Return to RME
 

The simple task of returning the first jet back to RME didn't go according to plan. US Customs chappies had no paperwork so we couldn't unload. Had to sit a while before that could happen. Then there was mention of import duties for Foxtrot. Crew went out of hours just as we started to unload so they had a head start at the bar. Eventually unloaded and put the jet to bed and caught up with the crew, in the bar. Next day was her final flight in Big Airways colours and UK reg, call sign Jetlift 604. Landed RME. Shut her down and walked away. Sad really. I wonder if the trade and industry secretary is aware of the havoc wrought by IAG's commercial decision. Good pilots with no chance whatsoever of flying again. Dull if you ask me. If any of the GSS crews read this, you were Gentleman one and all. Sad and sorry it's all over. I don't know what the Latin translation is for: "something this good shouldn't have lasted this long".
Aufweidersehen.

The trade and industry secretary is doubtless aware of the situation and equally does not give a tiny stuff. The union tried to bring the whole thing to the attention of government and absolutely nothing has happened so I wouldn't put any hope in that direction. We are operating in a globalized industry and UK jobs are expendable if they can be done cheaper elsewhere and especially if doing so increases the profits and bonus payments of the management.

I hope that IAG have good luck chartering an Antonov when they suddenly have to shift something that won't fit into the side door of a 777 and I hope that their employees continue to appreciate their logic when one fine day they decide that it is cheaper for Emirates to fly their long haul services and BA becomes a virtual airline.

I missed my last trip as I had to suddenly go into hospital for an op, so before I sign off for ever, just to say it has been a pleasure. To all my colleagues on the flight deck,in operations, the loadies and engineers. All the best to the guys going to the Middle east, the 787 and those few staying on the 747. To the others I hope something comes along soon and to those taking retirement, especially the BA over 55 club, enjoy it, it was a pleasure to know you all. To the secondees, even you A340YY, enjoy the 320/777 and I hope you had a good time with us.

And that's that.

Oh dear.When are people going to realise that if your not in a BA mainline uniform or on a mainline contract ,some time in the future your going to be shafted.

BALPA will always see to that.