british airways

[holly]

would you risk spoiling your holidays by booking with B A i would opt for another airline :o

[shot shot]

other airline, preferably a big one, not one of the bargain bucket flights. I really don't like the hassle of not knowing if your flight will take off or not

 

atb :o

[majordisorder]

I think BA suck even when they're not on strike. They've lost my baggage on 4 occasions and for the most part the air stewardesses are arrogant and not very helpful (even in business class). Virgin for me :o

[reaper6]

I think BA suck even when they're not on strike. They've lost my baggage on 4 occasions and for the most part the air stewardesses are arrogant and not very helpful (even in business class). Virgin for me :o

agree all the way on that one...........virgin far in front every time :o :o

[scout]

Have to agree either Virgin or Emirates. Both great airlines.

 

It's a crying shame as an english man I will not use our national airline but they are rude, arrogant and greedy.

[Yellow Bear]

Have to agree either Virgin or Emirates. Both great airlines.

 

It's a crying shame as an english man I will not use our national airline but they are rude, arrogant and greedy.

 

and just like Turkeys voting for Xmas - You may find the arrogant **** will leave in droves once their perks are gone, and that is only if BA survives and does not go bust and stick them all on the dole.

 

:o :o :o

[pegleg31]

the girlfriends cousin is a pilot for BA and he reckon's the cabin crew are overpaid.i'm not 100% sure exactly on the wages but i'm sure he told me that the more experienced trolley dollies are on about £30k a year but with all there travel bonuses they can hit over £70/100k abd there scared this is what they'll lose.it's really p-ing him off as he reckon's some of them are earning more than the pilot's and he's had to take a paycut.

[kdubya]

the girlfriends cousin is a pilot for BA and he reckon's the cabin crew are overpaid.i'm not 100% sure exactly on the wages but i'm sure he told me that the more experienced trolley dollies are on about £30k a year but with all there travel bonuses they can hit over £70/100k abd there scared this is what they'll lose.it's really p-ing him off as he reckon's some of them are earning more than the pilot's and he's had to take a paycut.

 

 

Perhaps if that little toad Walsh had not colluded with Qantas and Virgin and illegally price fixed, and then had to pay 71 million in fines when the sneaky virgin bosses snitched, he would not be seeking to save 67 million now and blaming the staff for the condition of BA rather than his own corrupt ineptitude, the mess of BA is down to management tactics not the trolley pushers.

 

KW

[pegleg31]

Perhaps if that little toad Walsh had not colluded with Qantas and Virgin and illegally price fixed, and then had to pay 71 million in fines when the sneaky virgin bosses snitched, he would not be seeking to save 67 million now and blaming the staff for the condition of BA rather than his own corrupt ineptitude, the mess of BA is down to management tactics not the trolley pushers.

 

KW

 

 

i'm not arguing with you there but would'nt you agree that £70/£100k is alot of money for pushing a trolley around and saying have a nice day?

[BSA-airgunner]

i'm not arguing with you there but would'nt you agree that £70/£100k is alot of money for pushing a trolley around and saying have a nice day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dont you mean saying "chicken or beef " they would never say have a nice day

Edited March 20, 2010 by BSA-airgunner

[kdubya]

i'm not arguing with you there but would'nt you agree that £70/£100k is alot of money for pushing a trolley around and saying have a nice day?

 

 

I don't know I have nothing to compare it with IE other airlines etc also we don't know HOW the higher figures are reached what hours need to be put in etc etc is, but £70k good? ask a poker tactics banker and he will call it small change in fact a somali immigrant can justifiably expect more per year in housing benefit? so its all down to perspective,I have always used the philosophy never knock those who earn more than you but try your damndest to match them.

 

One thing I do know is walsh tried to fix prices and got fined million upon million walsh tried to open terminal 5 without the staff being adequately trained, and the ensuing fiasco of public confidence in a flag ship airline dropping to an all time low, with passenger after passenger switching airline over the shambolic episode again management induced, and the staff at the coal face left to face the music.

 

Walsh has shagged BA and he is simply seeking a scapegoat, and as usual because it may inconvenience us? Joe public will side with him, especially if the green eyed monster in us thinks the cabin staff earn above their station, when in reality they probably don't.

 

KW

[JonD]

i'm not arguing with you there but would'nt you agree that £70/£100k is alot of money for pushing a trolley around and saying have a nice day?

 

Yes it is, however you have to look at what they are trained to do competently should the need arise.

 

One of my ex's was cabin crew, not for BA but after qualifying went through a lightening strike with emergency landing where they have to get everyone out safely down the slides, try to calm people down as appear as all is normal despite being scared to death themselves. Followed 2 weeks later by extreme turbulence and a bird strike that forced and emergency landing, it ended her career. Very unlucky but it really screwed her up and didn't get on a plane for 8 years after.

 

I know most people percieve them as trolly dollies but the first aid training, fire training, evacuation training etc that they have to get through to even qualify takes a good while.

 

OK, most of it is directing people to their seats, feeding them and watering them, but if the proverbial was to hit the fan you would be glad of them.

 

Jon.

[tractorboy]

not if i can help it .emirates any day for me :unsure:

[al4x]

BA are shagged because they have never got rid of the old working conditions and pay clauses from being a national carrier. Its why they really need to go bust and start again, the staff are fighting change and really why should they be paid that much more than any other carrier, the pay difference is huge so how can BA be profitable. 70 million is the tip of the iceberg IMHO personally I wouldn't fly with them and thats simply because I don't tend to want to pay more for a lesser service and that was before the strikes

[leaseone]

Not BA, sorry but I would not risk my annual break.

[AVB]

I would:

 

1) BA have the best connectivity from the UK, particulalry to the non-major hubs

2) Their service is not bad. I believe their seats in club are beter than most (apart from A380 on SQ) and cabin crew are better than most ("are you the man who didn't want to be woken for breakfast" - SQ crew having woken me up!)

3) BA deserve support in order to break the union

4) The BA Executive Club is better than most other and gives you opportunity to fly with your air-miles with probably more than anybody else

 

Andrew

[Dunkield]

I have flights booked with BA at the end of July, at the moment I am not overly worried about that.

 

I also have flights booked with a budget airline at the end of May.

And apart from charging for everything they possibly can, in my experience they aren't any worse than normal airlines.

If it wasn't for budget airlines I wouldn't go abroad half as much as I do, after all it was pressure from them that has made air travel as cheap as it today

[rimfire4969]

I am traveling to the States in the next few day for a family holiday, i am so glad that i did not book with BA. I would at the moment be ******* myself wondering if there was going to be a flight or not.

 

I fly quite alot and i think that i will avoid BA in the furture. A real shame but i work hard for my holidays and don't want them screwed by BA.

[Dr W]

Virgin for me

 

Never ever ever fly with Monarch, awful

[Nicky T]

I wouldn't book with BA if i had a choice; BUT it all depends where you are travelling as every airline has select destinations and routes.

 

Just flown to and from South Africa on Swiss Airlines; truley excellent!

[jonnyoftheboy]

i'm not arguing with you there but would'nt you agree that £70/£100k is alot of money for pushing a trolley around and saying have a nice day?

 

 

think that is a little inflated!

 

my brother is cabin crew for BA, has been there for 6-8 years, is long haul T5 heathrow.... so all the plum good trips. earns around £25-28K inc. all his allowances etc.

 

BA changed contracts just before he started, previous to that the pay & allowances were even higher - friend of his is part time on old contract, does 2-3 trips per month (between 3-5 days away per trip) and earns the same as he does.

 

there are those on old contract, who have been there years and are at the level of "Cabin Service Director" (CSD) - so basically run the cabin crew in the air - who are on £50-70k inc. allowances. these are the dinosaurs who BA (& often other cabin crew) would like to get rid of... as they stay in the job for years cos of the good pay & benefits, and stop a lot of the younger crew from progressing.

 

he "works" about 12-18 days per month (but when we say work, a working day can be classed as sitting by the pool in the hotel at the destination! although not all days at the destination are like that, they sometimes have to do internal flights at the destination).

 

They are glorified waiters/waitresses in the sky IMO... but do have the basic first aid & safety training. BUT, would you want to do the job? I KNOW I WOULDN'T, seeing half the ****** who I get on a plane with & the way they act.

 

they are better paid than most in the industry.... (virgin earn on average £14-19k, but have excellent staff travel benefits & travel benefits for friends and family, far better than BA). But does this mean that they earn too much? or the others are paid too little? everyone will have a differing view.

 

The main issues with the current dispute is that BA want to once again create a lesser paid contract for new recruits, as well as taking 1 member of staff off the plane (so the CSD will actually have to do some work for a change & cover that persons role, or the remaining crew will have to work a little harder!!), and freezing or to some extent cutting some of the pay and allowances of current crew.

 

The worry for BA current staff is that this lesser paid fleet will be put on the plum routes (where BA pay bigger allowances to current staff to make up there pay - as my bro's basic pay is only around £10-14k per year, can't remember exact figure).... as they are cheaper...... and so current BA staff will not only be taking a pay freeze/cut now (as part of these negotiations), but in effect take a further pay cut later on when the new fleet takes the plum routes and they lose these trips and hence their allowances.

 

my brother was in favour of some sort of action, but not a full on session of strikes! he has gone in to work and has ignored various union requests to not break the strike. there are many like him.

 

they are caught between a rock and a hard place. they want to do their bit for the company to survive, but also don't want to stare down the barrell of a gun with a large pay cut coming in the coming months/years.

 

being a cold hard capitalist.... i do not agree with striking, and think they need to accept that a large % of BA cabin crew have had it far too good for far too long. For BA to survive they need to sort this pay issue. I have had numerous "emotive discussions" with my brother on this issue over the past few months! For what it is worth, I do think they are paid too much for what they do.....

 

In his defence (& many more like him).....just thought I'd post to also show that not every member of BA cabin crew is on the old style contracts (where £30-45k earnings are not uncommon) as a lot of people think.... & I've heard lots of these "they earn £70k+" stories... which generally are not accurate as only a very small number of people within cabin crew earn a figure anywhere close to this reported £70k.

Edited March 22, 2010 by jonnyoftheboy

[Mungler]

Re: the original Virgin / BA wars (Branson / Lord King conflict)

 

Richard Branson must be laughing his backside off right now.

 

You think of all the millions Virgin spent in Court battles and advertising.... and now this. Well, you couldn't buy this sort of boost to the Virgin business.

 

Once the corporates bail on BA and set their accounts up with Virgin, BA will struggle to get that business back.

 

Not sure who is at fault but I do know this dispute could end BA and then no one apart from Virgin wins. Then again I am one of those crazy dinosaurs who think that if you don't like the job you are in then leave - don't strike, don't moan, just leave - I am sure that Virgin will be hiring soon what with all that new business they will be getting.

[Raja Clavata]

Doing my best to avoid BA on an upcoming business trip to Madras.

 

Virgin are my first choice as I've got a good air miles balance and tier points on the travel club BUT for every good experience I have with Virgin Airways I tend to also have an equally negative one

 

I might be switching to Emirates (once I get over the fact they sponsor the scum).

[MC]

As AVB I would,

 

I have flown with British Airways a number of times and never had any issues with them. I have also done a lot of work for them in T1 and T4 at Heathrow and also Gatwick and Birmingham.

 

As has already been said this strike could spell the end for BA and then I suppose Unite will have to charge what members they have left a lot more as they will be supporting all those people who have lost their jobs.

 

Oh no silly me of course they won't, They won't care an ounce once that happens will they?

 

******* unions make me sick.

[pegleg31]

think that is a little inflated!

 

my brother is cabin crew for BA, has been there for 6-8 years, is long haul T5 heathrow.... so all the plum good trips. earns around £25-28K inc. all his allowances etc.

 

BA changed contracts just before he started, previous to that the pay & allowances were even higher - friend of his is part time on old contract, does 2-3 trips per month (between 3-5 days away per trip) and earns the same as he does.

 

there are those on old contract, who have been there years and are at the level of "Cabin Service Director" (CSD) - so basically run the cabin crew in the air - who are on £50-70k inc. allowances. these are the dinosaurs who BA (& often other cabin crew) would like to get rid of... as they stay in the job for years cos of the good pay & benefits, and stop a lot of the younger crew from progressing.

 

he "works" about 12-18 days per month (but when we say work, a working day can be classed as sitting by the pool in the hotel at the destination! although not all days at the destination are like that, they sometimes have to do internal flights at the destination).

 

They are glorified waiters/waitresses in the sky IMO... but do have the basic first aid & safety training. BUT, would you want to do the job? I KNOW I WOULDN'T, seeing half the ****** who I get on a plane with & the way they act.

 

they are better paid than most in the industry.... (virgin earn on average £14-19k, but have excellent staff travel benefits & travel benefits for friends and family, far better than BA). But does this mean that they earn too much? or the others are paid too little? everyone will have a differing view.

 

The main issues with the current dispute is that BA want to once again create a lesser paid contract for new recruits, as well as taking 1 member of staff off the plane (so the CSD will actually have to do some work for a change & cover that persons role, or the remaining crew will have to work a little harder!!), and freezing or to some extent cutting some of the pay and allowances of current crew.

 

The worry for BA current staff is that this lesser paid fleet will be put on the plum routes (where BA pay bigger allowances to current staff to make up there pay - as my bro's basic pay is only around £10-14k per year, can't remember exact figure).... as they are cheaper...... and so current BA staff will not only be taking a pay freeze/cut now (as part of these negotiations), but in effect take a further pay cut later on when the new fleet takes the plum routes and they lose these trips and hence their allowances.

 

my brother was in favour of some sort of action, but not a full on session of strikes! he has gone in to work and has ignored various union requests to not break the strike. there are many like him.

 

they are caught between a rock and a hard place. they want to do their bit for the company to survive, but also don't want to stare down the barrell of a gun with a large pay cut coming in the coming months/years.

 

being a cold hard capitalist.... i do not agree with striking, and think they need to accept that a large % of BA cabin crew have had it far too good for far too long. For BA to survive they need to sort this pay issue. I have had numerous "emotive discussions" with my brother on this issue over the past few months! For what it is worth, I do think they are paid too much for what they do.....

 

In his defence (& many more like him).....just thought I'd post to also show that not every member of BA cabin crew is on the old style contracts (where £30-45k earnings are not uncommon) as a lot of people think.... & I've heard lots of these "they earn £70k+" stories... which generally are not accurate as only a very small number of people within cabin crew earn a figure anywhere close to this reported £70k.

 

 

i'm only going off what my girlfiend's cousin told me.he's a long haul pilot for BA.his girlfriend who is 21 and BA cabin crew is earning aroun d £24/£30k a year with her bonuses and she only does short haul.i had a good conversation with them only the other month about it and neither of them support the strike's.they were saying it's the old crew who are on the older contract's that will be affected and these are the one's who will lose out on their plum bonuses.he sounded pretty cheesed off that some of the cabin crew were earning more than some of the pilot's,but i can only go off what he's been telling me