Bay Capital Share Discussion Threads

[anony mous] 07/7/2010 21:58

Walsh guarantees all BA flights
7 Jul 2010 at 03:39 PM in Airline News

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has said the airline will be able to offer all departures in the event of a further strike by the Unite union.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, Mr Walsh said the days when union leaders could hold airlines to ransom were "gone".

He added: "If in case of a strike 100 per cent of flights will, as we believe, be guaranteed, British Airways will not only not lose money - it will end up saving."

Unite has outlined its intention to ballot members in order to seek a mandate for further industrial action.

However, the union last month postponed the vote in order to put the latest British Airways offer to members. This ballot began on Tuesday 6th July and is expected to last some weeks.

Some 22 days at British Airways have been disrupted by strike action at the British flag-carrier in 2010.

[zangdook] 07/7/2010 12:24

petelongden

if you read my post again I think you'll find my point is that, contrary to your assertion, the union is making demands of BA. Do you still maintain that they're not?

I must have missed the place where I wrote 'comparatively generous' or 'more generous' or 'better than some other airline' of the BA staff discounts. Perhaps you could point me to where I said one of those things.

[alphorn] 07/7/2010 09:50

It is not obvious to me what the Union has gained from reading the link above.
They have achieved nothing.

The fool's comment "However you vote now, you have written a proud page in trade union history." He forgot to add that it refers to a different century.

[selborne_edge] 07/7/2010 08:14

The BA offer to the cabin crews appears to be very fair. I expect it to be rejected but that is what you expect from such a clueless bunch of employees. UNITE and BASSA will ensure that it is rejected. Difficult to see where BA goes from here.

[petelongden] 06/7/2010 23:03

zangdook

BA does not give 'generous' staff discounts - they are industry standard for all airline employees - in fact Virgin give much better travel perks to their staff then BA do.

[horus22222] 06/7/2010 23:00

vote starting

[zangdook] 06/7/2010 20:08

petelongden - 5 Jul'10 - 19:57 - 5025 of 5033

Not sure of the point of your post. You questioned whether the union were making demands. The fact that you think it's good for BA to give generous staff discounts doesn't change the fact that the union is demanding their reinstatement.

Personally I think the cabin crew should be given discounted dandruff shampoo before discounted flights.

[alphorn] 06/7/2010 10:03

petelongden - I think that it would be a mistake to reinstate as was. That is not to say that some alternative staff discount arrangement could not be used.

[woff woff] 06/7/2010 09:46

NO STRIKE STICK IT TO LITTEL WILLY ,,,WALLY,,,

[petelongden] 06/7/2010 09:45

Alphorn, would it be a mistake or would it be an incentive? I suppose it can be either depending on how you view it!

[alphorn] 06/7/2010 09:21

The reinstatement of travel perks would IMO be a mistake.

[selborne_edge] 06/7/2010 08:48

A most interesting article. It is possible that sanity is returning and the harsh reality of the challenge that BA faces is being understood by UNITE. BASSA and the cabin crews. I would not have thought that reinstatement of the travel priviliges was likely but you never know.

[anony mous] 05/7/2010 23:16

British Airways Recruitment Drive Worries Union
July 5, 2010

Summary
In a letter from Unite representatives to British Airways, the union seems to want to make peace and accept the final deal on the table and restore the airline's credibility – but they still want their travel concessions reinstated.

Analysis
The long awaited decision by British Airways to recruit more strike-busting staff on more flexible contracts has certainly taken the wind out of the union sails.

British Airways' image has been so badly damaged, probably beyond repair in some customers' eyes, that no matter what agreement is reached, it will take years to restore faith in the company – but the saving grace (for management) is that much of the consumer ire is directly targeted towards the militancy of the union and cabin crew that elected to disrupt flights they had paid for.

The Unite letter links staff travel discounts with "peace" at the airline, noting that even if the final deal were accepted, cabin crew would not be at ease.

At this point, it is clear that British Airways couldn't care less about the mood or sentiment of its staff which walked off the job. And for that reason, neither will they relent on their final offer or budge on travel discounts. Cabin crew were given more than ample warning about withdrawal of this privilege and they thought the airline management was bluffing.

Clearly, they were not.

British Airways has lost hundreds of millions of pounds, even more in revenue from customers flying with other airlines and now faces even greater costs by employing new staff. Had the airline systematically fired and dispensed with striking staff earlier, the financial hurt would have been capped somewhat.

Better late than never, but if the airline wants to reinvent and turn itself around, it has to take more drastic and controversial measures which cut out the Unite union and its inept management from ever influencing the way the airline is run.

[alphorn] 05/7/2010 22:09

Schlemiel - "re-employed by the same dept" - if that is the case then the redundancy payment becomes taxable.

[petelongden] 05/7/2010 19:57

Hi Selborne_Edge, many thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify a couple of points that you made:

The cabin crews have made many demands on BA, one of which is to retain a level of salary which can no longer be sustained. - The current Crew have a contract of employment which BA offered to them when they where recruited, the current Cabin Crew have during this dispute offered BA a pay cut which BA turned down as BA indicated a pay cut was not required

They also want newly-recruited members of cabin crews to be given similiar levels of salary. - Im afraid your are way off the mark here, BASSA has agreed to new starters at 11K per year basic, in fact the new starters are being recruited now on 'Mixed Fleet'

A reinstatement of travel perks is another demand.- But the use of Staff Travel by BA staff actually makes BA money, why would BA in their current position turn down revenue? The travel perks make use of an otherwise empty seat by bringing a small amount of revenue, which is revenue non the less, to the company.

[maximillian1] 05/7/2010 18:33

GerryL

Agree with your post 5005 re the bottom..were do you see Bay and Barclays near term say 3 weeks 26th july ish...As we are not far from the cliff edge for manys shares and Index imo.

Bay share price just waiting for the ballot and inevitable capitulation on the part of the cabin crews..the boys in dark glasses can smell blood...all timed to the minute ..again imo

Regards Max

[selborne_edge] 05/7/2010 14:35

Thank you petelongden - The cabin crews have made many demands on BA, one of which is to retain a level of salary which can no longer be sustained. They also want newly-recruited members of cabin crews to be given similiar levels of salary. A reinstatement of travel perks is another demand.

While all this fiasco is going on the lifeblood of the airline is draining away.

[petelongden] 05/7/2010 10:55

Selborne_Edge

I dont know where you are getting your information from, what exactly do you mean when you say they are trying to blackmail their employer into meeting their demands?

What are their demands?

[selborne_edge] 05/7/2010 10:28

You can see now where the cabin crews get their funny ideas from. They believe that they are still civil servants and can blackmail their employer into meeting their demands. Can they not understand that BA is near to bankrupcy and cannot meet their demands, no matter how long they go on strike.

[selborne_edge] 05/7/2010 07:15

Sadly BA is no longer a 'quality' airline but members of the cabin crew still want to be paid above-average wages. It is a different world to when all the air hostesses looked lovely and you actually got the impression that they were there to serve the passengers.

BA have a lot to do to regain the trust of would-be travellers and to have a fifth column in the middle of its work force is no help.