DryV1

Anotherflapoperator.
Have you tried Thomsonfly? Best T& C's and good money after pay rise? Think they are still recruiting.

Good luck everyone

WhoopWhoop Whoops

I notice there is a lot of talk about seniority effects in the merger/takeover.
I have some contact with high flyer industrial lawyers in the uk. The general view is that airline seniority lists are not lawful due to the new anti age descrimination laws which came into effect in October. The view is that it is a form of indirect age descrimination and is bound to be declared illegal when the first case comes to an IR tribunal. Similar test cases have been set in Eire (not aviation ones) where the EU law was enacted earlier than the UK. You can pay more to reward length of service but you cannot deny a job position on length of service. To do so would be considered denying one age group younger or older from an opportunity. It looks as if in the future all Captain positions will have to be done by interview like any other job taking into account experience, ratings, suitability, etc. Everybody with the necessary qualifications would have to be given an opportunity to apply for the captain position. A bidline system for trips might be OK as it might be considered a length of service benefit, but not the actual job promotion proccess. The airlines are aware of this apparently, they are just waiting for the first move by an employee. Balpa I feel is hoping it will go away. When somebody from Bacon or flybe feels agrieved we may see the first case in an IR court in the UK. If these lawyers are correct in their forecast, the changes to the pilot promotion world in the EU will be immense.

Whispermode

That all sounds very plausable, WWW, pity though as all it will do is put money into lawyers pockets and not help the intended victims of age discrimination. The principle of seniority is well understood within the aviation industry and to have it derailed by EU legislation just demonstrates (again) how well meaning regulations can be hijacked and turned to anyones advantage. Another example is the Human Rights Act.

AlphaCharlie

BOSD... Flybe is due to be 30-40 Captains short by March 2007, due to resignations and aircraft deliveries over the winter. Couple that with the overlap of domestic routes between BACon and Flybe and yes I think it is very plausible that the Q300 could be grounded more or less immediately and all those pilots retrained on the Q400.

As for whoever it was sat in the RHS of the 146 on Fraggle Rock with 3500 hrs. Don't worry you will be straight in the LHS of the Q400. We need Captains and you have more than enough hours for command at Flybe. Commands at present in Flybe are awarded purely on hours, their is no internal waiting list to do it by seniority. Their is not one single F/O left in the company at present with the experience to promote to the LHS, so everyone like you at BACon with about 2500hrs could be looking at immediate promotion, and as said above if the new pay offer gets voted in, £53,500 salary by April 2008!!

jaarrgh

Perhaps I am misunderstanding the concept of the franchise deals.
BA have no authority to buy a franchise partner such as Logan Air, Sun Air, GB and BMED. The franchisee uses the livery and BA as a ticketing agent but are separately/privately/publicly owned companies. They are not contracted to fly routes on behalf of BA. So any 'takeover' would be conditional on those franchise partners accepting such a proposition.
Is this not correct?

BMED LHR

I wonder if British Airways is tired of it's
Partner's and just wants out ? , As you can see with BA Connect .

Any insight would be a good read

Cheers .

Also Cityflyer was a franchise , Before it changed to Citi Express and now BA Connect .
British Airways would of brought all there franchises I heard if it was not for 9/11 , And Cityflyer was the first one . But that is not fact , just gossip !!

More about B|MED , GB Airways , Logan Air , Sun-Air ; Denmark and Comair in South Africa :

A franchise service means that you fly with an independent airline, which operates to British Airways own high standards of customer service, quality and hospitality.

• Our franchises specialise in specific routes and regions extending our network, offering you greater choice and flexibility.
• They use British Airways name, livery and flight code.
• Inside the aircraft you find the familiar British Airways cabin interior and staff uniforms.

flyer55

BMED just going to correct you on something that you have mentioned about Cityflyer .

Cityflyer was the first BA franchise which later got bought by BA for £70 million and became a subsidiary. Cityflyer then merged with Eurogatwick to form Eurofleet LGW and now Gatwick Fleet and NOT BA Connect !

Cityflyer Franchise started 1993 and got bought before Sept 2001.

jaarrgh

There is no reason BA would want to close there franchise deals in relation to cost. The franchisee foots the bill for all its operations just like a regular airline. They are independant companies using, under licence, the BA name. BA benefit from this by having an extended route structure at no cost and the franchisee may well be required to use BA handling ground services.

Besides, back to BA Connect..... and thats because today is my very last day in the company so good bye and good luck to all my friends and former (at 17:00) colleagues.

GOLF-INDIA BRAVO

With BA Con going it is going to hit Titan`s business with all the ad hoc work they have done over the years

G-I-B

skysod

Good luck JAARRGH, whoever you are!
Hope to be following you through the escape hatch very soon!!

BMED LHR

Ah ..I see , Cheers for Info .
So Citi Express where did that come from ?
Was it always part of BA ? Based in Manchester ?

Cheers

Manxman11

BMED LHR

CitiExpress was born following BA's acquisition of BRAL. CitiExpress brought together what was Brymon, BRAL and Manx Airlines. It was headquartered in Manchester with back office in IOM. CitiExpress became BA Connect.

For a while the regional BA ops (ATP's etc) out of Manchester carried British Airways Express titles, but this is/was separate to CitiExpress (I believe).

Hope that helps

tallaonehotel

BA bought the BRAL group and then merged all 3.
It was then ruined by Messers Evans and Witts and Walsh.
Good luck to Jaarrgh, I'm off soon too I hope.

BMED LHR

Cheers for the info ..I Understand it all now ,
And to JAARRGH and tallaonehotel I wish you all the best in 2007 and the future

Once Again thanks for the info , I forgot about those Airlines ..I'll be reading all about it later "Need to do my Home work " Lol...

PAXboy

Bear in mind that Brymon, Manx etc. were only bought to get the EGLL slots. The routine was:

1. Buy the carrier
2. Move the routes to EGKK
3. Back fill the slots at EGLL with long haul
4. Run down the carrier and dispose of it

This has largely come about because of the way in which slots at UK airports could not be bought 'over the counter', so the trashing of the regional carriers was the only alternative.

{I am not and never have been an employee of any company in the UK airline industry}

paul01942

Rumor has it that there is a woman working her way around the country closing down or dispersing BA's regional bases we have heard to date that Southhampton is disolved, that Glasgow is having all there work subbed out to contract handling companies? then today she has arrived at Manchester, there is a meeting taking place as we speak (11:36am) with BA staff, could this be the end of BA Manchester? i work for the current handling company that BA use, guess there's a possibility that we might be doing the whole package soon? can anyone shed any light on this maybe give some clarification to the current situation!!!!

moku

No offense Paul,

but this has already been discussed on a few threads. BA Connect Sold to flybe thread and others........ a little searching should reveal all the answers!

m.

Highflight420

BA might be closer to the Long Haul only concept than you think.

Substantial rumour that WW has been in contact with Ryanair management about offloading Short haul to that airline.Maybe BA Connect was just the start.

I can hear all the replies now but with all thats going on in the airline industry at the moment stranger things have happened.

I can imagine the flight crews responce but whatever you may think of Ryanair they have got the low cost model right and are now the equivalent of Southwest in Europe.

paul01942

I'm fully aware of te sale of BA Connect to FlyBe i should do considering i work on there aircraft daily if you read properly what i wrote, i'm asking have the regional bases started to be closed already, in ref to Southhampton, Glasgow and now maybe Manchester it effects all of us here so would like to know if Manchester is to be closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

moku

Ok Sorry.

Southampton closed at the end of the summer schedule. The aircraft based there was moved to EDI and either MAN or BHX. Routes still operated but only EDI and MAN.
EDI. GLA etc.... Yes BA have been having meetings. Did not reveal all in the meetings, but basically using the BACON deal as an excuse to pull out of handling in the regions and put it out for tender.
Ba have been very good about not giving too much away at the moment. Do not want to pi$$ of the staff and cause a strike!! The feeling in from EDI ground staff is that BA will retain a few customer service staff but the rest will be contracted out. (Just like the ground handling in MAN)
As for BA in MAN. After March there will still be the LHR & LGW Shuttle flights and the GB flights.
If you are already working for the handling agent in MAN, then this should not affect you. It will only be BA employed staff (check-in, gate staff etc)...... well, and those that do ground handling for BACON.

Hope that helps answer you questions.

P.S. none of this is FACT as yet, just speculation