British Airways to strike over Christmas

[devon_metro]

From the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8411214.stm

British Airways cabin crew have voted in favour of a strike over job cuts and changes to staff contracts.
The strikes are set to begin on 22 December and run until 2 January. They are expected to cause significant disruption over the Christmas period.
Cabin crew voted overwhelmingly in favour of the strike action.
It follows a long dispute between the unions and BA, which is intent on cutting costs in order to survive a collapse in passenger numbers.

....

Nail in the coffin?

 

[Failed Unit]

From the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8411214.stm




Nail in the coffin?

Depends, a lot of people were not booking with BA over Christmas expecting some kind of action. If this was a one of event BA would recover, however BA have now got a reputation of an airline which has action during the main holiday periods so it may stop people using them in the future. I know it is the staffs only way now - but they could be striking themselves out of a job by bankrupting BA. I feel sorry for the people that are going to have thier Christmas plans ruined over this. I guess East Coast and Virgin will be happy to provide seats (along with Easy Jet, BMI and LyanAir)

 

[graham125hst]

I have not really read the details about why the strike is being called but today I read in a paper that BA cabin crew are on twice the amount of Virgin cabin crew.

If that is really the case I am not sure why they feel the need to strike, especially with the damage it will cause for the airlines reputation which will then have a knock on effect with regards to jobs somewhere down the line.

 

[Old Timer]

I used to use BA regularly to fly both within the UK as well as abroad, and am still a member of the Executive Club, although I have not flown BA for several years now.

I found their prices to be high in comparison with others and their service started to fall off, whilst the attitude of many of their cabin crew became sloppy and unwelcoming.

I now fly KLM whenever possible as I find their cabin staff to be excellent. They always make you feel like they are pleased to see you, and having seen their long haul crew at International airports, it is always noticable how they interact and how happy the whole crew seems. This is something that I have not noticed with other International airlines, BA, United, Air France, Sabena, South African.

Having actually made friends with a very nice KLM stewardess, I got to meet some of the long haul crews off duty and found them to be very nice people, and they all enjoyed their work and loved working for KLM.

I also know a couple of long haul BA cabin crew, including a cabin services director. The difference in attitude is quite stunning and I find with the BA people I know a certain arrogance of attitude, even when off-duty, which tends to match that which I found in the air.

Whilst I do not have all the facts on the background to the strike, and I am sure there are probably reasons why the cabin crew feel so strongly, BA appears to have lost a lot of its loyal customer base from I perceive when flying around, and the poor customer service and attitude from BA staff is now heading towards the ground occupied by Air France.

I personally believe that BA is going to end up much changed within the next 12/24 months, especially with the proposed merger with Iberia. The staff have in my view been a big factor in the loss of travellers to other airlines. When you spend a lot of money on a business class ticket you at least expect a little courtesy and a feeling that you are not a nuisance to the cabin crew. If I wanted that I would have used Air France.

 

[TrainBrain185]

I used to use BA regularly to fly both within the UK as well as abroad, and am still a member of the Executive Club, although I have not flown BA for several years now.

I found their prices to be high in comparison with others and their service started to fall off, whilst the attitude of many of their cabin crew became sloppy and unwelcoming.

I now fly KLM whenever possible as I find their cabin staff to be excellent. They always make you feel like they are pleased to see you, and having seen their long haul crew at International airports, it is always noticable how they interact and how happy the whole crew seems. This is something that I have not noticed with other International airlines, BA, United, Air France, Sabena, South African.

Having actually made friends with a very nice KLM stewardess, I got to meet some of the long haul crews off duty and found them to be very nice people, and they all enjoyed their work and loved working for KLM.

I also know a couple of long haul BA cabin crew, including a cabin services director. The difference in attitude is quite stunning and I find with the BA people I know a certain arrogance of attitude, even when off-duty, which tends to match that which I found in the air.

Whilst I do not have all the facts on the background to the strike, and I am sure there are probably reasons why the cabin crew feel so strongly, BA appears to have lost a lot of its loyal customer base from I perceive when flying around, and the poor customer service and attitude from BA staff is now heading towards the ground occupied by Air France.

I personally believe that BA is going to end up much changed within the next 12/24 months, especially with the proposed merger with Iberia. The staff have in my view been a big factor in the loss of travellers to other airlines. When you spend a lot of money on a business class ticket you at least expect a little courtesy and a feeling that you are not a nuisance to the cabin crew. If I wanted that I would have used Air France.

I agree with Old Timer. Personally, I have done a lot of long haul and European flights in my time and somehow, the BA option has never materialised for the US, I have used United and American Airlines from Heathrow also KLM and partner NorthWest Airlines via Amsterdam simply that they were a lot cheaper than BA. For European destinations, love em or loathe em, RyanAir, EasyJet and Jet2, the latter being my favourite..
I think BA is too big and should be broken up into smaller units. Come back BOAC and BEA...
Its a shame what has happened to BA, though cannot say they were "my" favourite airline as stated by many by virtue of me not using them. Plus, how can it be justified that their cabin crew staff are on far higher salaries than other Airline Employees?

 

[313103]

Its a shame what has happened to BA, though cannot say they were "my" favourite airline as stated by many by virtue of me not using them. Plus, how can it be justified that their cabin crew staff are on far higher salaries than other Airline Employees?

That is quite an analogy to make that BA pay there staff more then there competitors. The same system is applied to virtually all sectors of the transport industry, infact i would go on to say that it applies to almost all industries.

I am a Conductor on London Overground and paid a salary that is completely different to say Southern, South Eastern & South West Trains pay their Conductors. If that is what you are saying then i say bring back British Rail where a member of staff of any grade is paid exactly the same anywhere between Wick and Penzance.

Unless of course i have not understood what you are saying.

But an 92% for industrial action, on a turnout of 80% tells you something is wrong.

 

[Old Timer]

BA has been in trouble for some time now.

I believe it is down to three things.

It has never adequately tackled its operating costs such that its costs are far greater than any other comparable airline.

Secondly, its prices have been higher than the competition, which would not be SO bad IF the cabin service was excellent, which brings me to point three.

There has been a marked and increasing deterioration in the attitude of the cabin services staff in recent years. Now BA staff have always held a partially arrogant attitude but you can bear that when it is not directed towards the passengers.

More and more it began to feel as if I were an irritant to the stewardesses rather than the guy paying a business class fare which actually paid their wages.

It was very difficult to get much of a smile from most of them, and there ultimately seemed to be an atmopshere pervading the cabin, that they really did not want to be there and were only happy doing the bare minimum.

In the end I found the attitude to be the final straw and looked elsewhere.

I had travelled KLM before but not in the recent past, as obviously all of the hub flights are based out of Schiphol. That said I do like the Netherlands as a country and indeed the people.

I found there was a much different more friendly atmosphere, and the cabin crew genuinely were happy to help you.

On my first long haul flight, I started wander back to the galley to get a drink and ran into one of the stewardesses, who asked if she could help. I told her I was going to get a drink and that I had not wanted to call the attendant. She said to me that she and the other crew were more than happy to walk up and down the plane the whole flight if necessary to deliver drinks. She said to go back and sit down and she came back with a variety of drink options. She also said that if I really did want to walk back to the galley, that I would find plenty of drinks and snacks there and to just help myself if the galley was unmanned.

On another long haul occasion, they moved me to an empty three seater so that I could spread myself out not realising I was a frequent flyer card member.

They have always been very very courteous, and it is somewhat of a reflection that one is old when a young stewardess volunters to help wth your bags at Schiphol after she has come off the same flight and should really be going home to bed !

I rather think that would not happen with BA, which is a shame because years ago, BA really was good.

 

[graham125hst]

Here is a link to a statement from Willie Walsh who appears to confirm what I read earlier about the pay structure.

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/statement/public/en_gb

We went on holiday to the USA in May and flew with BA in club world using BA miles to upgrade from the world traveller plus that we had originally paid for. On both legs of the journey from Heathrow to Newark and back the service by the cabin crew was superb, they were very friendly and damn good at their job.

How BA have got into such a mess is open to speculation but it is a real shame to see a major British company seemingly heading towards meltdown.

 

[Dai.]

Baffling to be honest, it's like the postmen strike, people need to be tight in the recession instead of striking I say we blame the government!

 

[Waddon]

I wonder if, in a few years time, we will look back at the name 'British Airways' in the same way as we now look back at the name 'British Leyland'?

 

[flymo]

Hmmm, just booked on Monday onto a Hong Kong - London BA flight for Dec 28. I didn't know anything about the possible strike until the results hit the news. I knew I should have flown Cathay . Bugger! The reason I chose BA was because of the carriers flying non stop HK - London (BA, Cathay, Qantas, Air New Zealand & Virgin) there was not much to choose between them all price-wise (apart from Virgin which were much more expensive) and I wanted to try to do my bit to help BA along. I wish I hadn't bothered now and chose Cathay.

Also just to mention, flying onto Newcastle, also with BA, the flight cost £50.70 one way which comprised of £5 to BA and £45.70 in security costs/surcharges/taxes etc. I was actually quite taken aback when seeing the charges to fly out of Heathrow. I knew there would be a charge but for it to be so high simply blew my mind. I'm guessing BA would keep the fare low to try to remain competitive and sell seats. The train would have cost about £46 or so for similar departure times. No doubt the price of the BA flight will rise nearer departure time, should the thing actually depart.

This is going to be a fun trip by the looks of it

 

[Aussie_Rail]

Baffling to be honest, it's like the postmen strike, people need to be tight in the recession instead of striking I say we blame the government!

Yeah, I agree. In this current economic climate people should be lucky to have a job, and to strike, not only risking loosing their job, but also risk killing the company is irresponsible, selfish and unacceptable as well as a slap in the face to those who have lost their job.

They should suck it up, be greatfull that they have a source of income and they should be more supportive of their employers, not harm them to the point of ruin as well as screwing up all the plans of their passengers.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Hmmm, just booked on Monday onto a Hong Kong - London BA flight for Dec 28. I didn't know anything about the possible strike until the results hit the news. I knew I should have flown Cathay . Bugger! The reason I chose BA was because of the carriers flying non stop HK - London (BA, Cathay, Qantas, Air New Zealand & Virgin) there was not much to choose between them all price-wise (apart from Virgin which were much more expensive) and I wanted to try to do my bit to help BA along. I wish I hadn't bothered now and chose Cathay.

Should have gone with QANTAS.

 

[Failed Unit]

Trouble is QUATAS code share with BA so you could end up with a flight operated by BA anyway.

Anyway the pay issue they compare basic salary with Virgin and it does make it look gready ******, but you don't know either companies total package. The drivers on this forum will probably know that when a company says they have rejected a 5% payrise they fail to mention what they have given up for this "payrise". This 5% payrise can mean they are worse off. It has happened to me, I remember the management saying when they increased our week from 37 - 37.5 that it is only 6 minutes per day.

Anyway back to BA or London airways as people in the regions call them. They have lost thier way a little. London - Edinburgh for example they charge twice as much as EasyJet and what do you get for that? Heathow, many people would pay more to avoid Heathrow and if you work in London Stansted is easier to get to anyway. Yes I know BA also do City but for many people / business the extra cost can no longer be justified.

Flying from Manchester - Sydney? You have to fly somewhere else first. From Manchester you can get to Paris, Frankfurt or Amsterdam. Again why be loyal to BA here if you feel that you get better service by someone else. I guess that the reason BA still operate London - Mancheste just for the connecting passengers. However the loyalty of a lot of the regions went when BA stopped operating direct flights from them.

The amount of times you here on the news why strike over Christmas, a stirke needs to have maximum impact, but I do think that both sides should look over to the flag carrier of Italy to see what happens if you don't move with the times. The big difference here is that the Italian government kept bailing out the airline, the UK government I expect wouldn't do the same. They did for the banks, but they have let many other British industrys fail in the past or got their burnt when they have help (Rover for example)

 

[flymo]

Should have gone with QANTAS.

I have done before but this time the timings were all wrong. I've flown QF a few times now and always good crews and flights.

Trouble is QUATAS [QANTAS] code share with BA so you could end up with a flight operated by BA anyway.

Not if you specify QF 29 which is the direct flight from HK to London (comes from Melbourne). I usually buy online now for the cheaper deals so you can choose which airline you fly.

Still lets see what happens in the next week or so.

 

[Oswyntail]

I fly rarely, so cannot really comment about BA. But....
British service industries that i have experienced have shown a worrying tendency over the last 12 years or so. I believe that the correct priority is: look after the customers, then the staff, and the profits will come. The current standard priorities seem to be: look after the profit, sod the staff, and ignore the customer. It is not only BA, but, judging by many of the threads here, TOCs that take this view. Staff are virtually helpless, and fall back on that least productive of tools, the strike, which only accelerates the downward spiral.

 

[Mojo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8414306.stm

British Airways is to take legal action to try to prevent a cabin crew strike set to begin on 22 December.

 

[starrymarkb]

well its not exactly disruptive for most of the UK, I mean BA is known as London air for a reason. Esp after selling BA Connect to Flybe and with Loganair now aligned to Flybe what do they operate that isn't London based? I'd like to visit the states at some point and will probably fly Continental from a relatively local airport. After all why travel to and endure LHR?

 

[Pumbaa]

High court rules it is illegal:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8418805.stm