Concorde Crews to Strike
 

Further to the previous thread, I was told today by someone at Heathrow that the Concorde crews were pressing for an immediate strike ballot this week.

:eek:

I don't know if it's just the Flight Engineers or the Pilots as well.

Anybody heard anything? Are there any Concorde crews out there?

Arnt they missing the point somewhat ?

Ground it now and bring forward the inevitabe.

rt

There is a certain amount of truth in what has been said. I can't speak for the Pilot's Ballot, but....

.....the remaining Flight Engineers in BA (all 18 of us) have been shabbily treated over the whole affair. Our union, BALPA, have been in talks with the company for over 4 months now, trying to get some sort of severence / retirement deal out of the company. They have achieved the sum total of .... nothing.

We are not luddites. We knew that the days of the Flight Engineer was coming to an end as we were replaced by computers. We had hoped that we would be given a little bit of assistance as we were made redundant and headed off into the sunset, as it were. What we didn't know is that we would be discarded like so many pieces of scrap, in a manner that reflects no good on our managers, FLight Operations, and British Airways.

Anger on the Fleet is running very high. We (the Flight Engineers) have a final meeting with BALPA tomorrow, and we will be calling for a strike ballot. The Flight Engineers still flying the aircraft WILL NOT allow BA to make a great deal of capital, media exposure, and money from all the special flights next month (October) if at the same time they are shafting us.

Watch this space.
:mad:

Wake up and smell......

What a load of absolute rubbish! There is no truth whatsoever in this rumour. Do feel sorry for the FE's who haven't been treated too well by BA or BALPA. The FE's would need a separate union to strike legally, I've certainly not got anything from BALPA about a strike ballot and to be honest there would be not much support for any action over just 18 guys doing an outdated job.

Didn't the company offer you guys the chance to carry on as Cabin Crew? As the pilots have done in the past?

Youwererobbed said:
"What a load of absolute rubbish! There is no truth whatsoever in this rumour."

I normally don't rise to flame-bait, but as it's been a while, I really can't resist.

Not a rumour - fact. Wherever you get your information from - it's wrong. I will be at that meeting tomorrow, and having talked to my contempraries, I can say with confidence that there will be a call for a ballot.

You then went on to state:

"Do feel sorry for the FE's who haven't been treated too well by BA or BALPA. The FE's would need a separate union to strike legally, I've certainly not got anything from BALPA about a strike ballot and to be honest there would be not much support for any action over just 18 guys doing an outdated job. "

Again, a load of horse manure. There is, according to BALPA, no necessity to involve any pilot in this dispute. It is perfectly legal for the Flight Engineers to ballot and strike independant of the pilots.

Then the drivel continued with this offering:
"Didn't the company offer you guys the chance to carry on as Cabin Crew? As the pilots have done in the past?"

The pilots may have done so in the past. It's obviously easier for Pilots to work as Cabin Crew than it is for Professional Flight Engineers.

I personally have no desire to be Cabin Crew - I have nothing against Cabin Crew, but I've been a Flight Engineer for 30 years, and asking me to re-train as Cabin Crew is like asking Doctors to work as Nurses for the rest of their career.

So, basically, everything you said was based upon mis-informed information, if you based it upon anything at all.

OK, no more Flame-Bait guys, OK?

Sorry to go sideways here,
I heard hat the big bird was suppose to come to toronto next month??
Is it true, (I guess if the F.E aren't on strike:O )
Just wondering when? cause i would like to get my picture taken.
Take it easy, what a bird, i will miss it, for once we did better than the Yankees:8

What makes these Flight Engineers think they are something special?? Their job has come to and end like so many others these days. Sad but true. Any of these guys should know their days were numbered.

Professional Flight Engineers are a thing of the past,just like Wireless Operators,Navigators,Lighthouse Keepers,Coal Miners and so on. What on earth do you expect BA to give you???????? I suspect you all have pensions that most of us would die for!!

Sure you can all walk out in a sulk as you are finished in aviation.It will save BA a lot of money!!

I heard there were Virgin Atlantic Flight Engineers at Filton recently.

Oh dear that's some ego you got there Two Tun. I've got news for you being a FE is not like being a DR, it's like being a DR's assistant. Actually that's not true either cos you are # 3 in the list of order givers. An assistants assistant. If the more highly trained pilots were prepared to work as Cabin Crew then so should you. Your job is no longer needed, you had the chance to re-qualify as pilots and the suitable guys have done so and most are a pleasure with which to fly. But your attitude is the reason you are getting virtually zero support from your soon to be ex-colleagues.

That enough bait for you!

Two Tun

Forget these idiots.

They are either not pilots or if they are they have never had the privelege of flying an aircraft that requires a Flight Engineer

I miss you Guys! Aviation is much the poorer without you - imagine what it must be like sharing a 2 crew flight deck with the likes of the above morons....

Oh OK, I know I said I wouldn't. but it really is very hard keeping the ol' fingers off the keyboard.......

Youwererobbed - FOAD

Compare this reaction to that of the MyTravel DC10 F/E's who are simply being made redundant. Goodbye. Get lost. Shove off.

But then, there is no comparison with the real world and Planet Decadence (formerly Planet Taxpayer's Expense).


As for BALPA not achieving anything, what a surprise ! BA's very own private Union, sorry Association too ! Bad show you chaps !

Now let me get this straight, the FE's are no longer needed, indeed redundant, so they are going to go on strike?
Presumably BA will observe the terms of thier contract so what is the problem?

I was only joking! Thought that you might need more bait to get you riled.

I do think that you have been poorly treated, but your plight is getting zero exposure if the rest of the FC in BA know nothing about your "ballot". BALPA will be on dodgy ground if you guys go for strike action without the rest of the membership being involved. That means that individual fleets could strike, or just FO's etc. If you are looking for sympathy then the BACC are doing a poor job in getting the rest of the team behind you. You haven't been helped by some of the more extreme of your colleagues who have posted on the BALPA forum in the past.

"I was only joking"

Like hell you were. I'll bet you could turn a 747 through 180° on a 45 metre wide runway in 2 nanoseconds!

Concorde FE's
 

Gotta say......
I usually find the 'demanded respect' and the 'world owes me a living' attitude of some of the pilots posting here, quite laughable.
But this chap has a good point, he realises the F/E role is about at an end, but expects his parting at least reasonable.
All the best to him and all the Flight Engineers.

Youwererobbed

Your laughable ignorance, regarding the current situation in BA and the history behind it, as exhibited by the many factual errors in your postings, might be excused on the grounds that checking facts before posting appears to be an alien concept to you.

Your arrogant comments, referring so demeaningly and dismissively to a group of valued and long-serving colleagues who are about to lose their jobs, are another matter, and are frankly beneath contempt.

Concorde Flight Engineers are held, almost universally, in high regard by those who have met them or worked with them. Your remarks, which tell us far more about you than about them, somehow lead me to doubt that the same will ever be said of you.

This dispute is not about whether they will go, but the manner of their going. It is about whether promises made earlier will be honoured, a subject which should be of concern to all their soon-to-be-ex colleagues, including those on the Airbus fleet.

Regards

Bellerophon

You have my support Two Tun

From my days in Balpa (retired you see) I seem to remember BA trained some Classic engineers as pilots.

Am I also correct in thinking that they offered others a reasonable severance package?

Post 9/11, with the remaining Classics phased out early they (BA management) renaged on the severance package that their colleagues had received and it took your fellow colleagues (pilots) from all flight decks within BA to give up part of our pay deal to look them.

With regard to Concorde, did you ever expect to be treated any differently? When you have Bannister at the reigns (who with his management extractions) only looking after himself there was little chance of the "unsung heroes" on the aircraft being "looked after".

I hope you get what you want tomorrow, cos if you dont you would have got my vote (if I had one) for a strike.

Bet that half the inflammatory replies are from management.