British Airways

[whore]

Just a word of warning to anyone travelling to Thailand or anywhere else via British Airways. Cabin crew have announced 20 days of strike action over the summer. My guess is if they dont get what they want, there will be more strikes in July and August.

Cabin crew will walk out on 18-22 May inclusive, 24-18 May, 30 May - 3 June and 5-9 June.

My advice is avoid British Airways at all costs.

[robbo]

Bollox to BA only flew once with em and that was cause my airline cancelled and got transfer free.
overpriced free loading bollox bastards,mayby these strikes if contnue will put BA out of business,then the overpaid overprivilaged mincing queens who traet the aisle like the catwalk will be out of a job.serve emright. get a grip you feckin lot at least u gota job at mo,scrounging bastards

[sukhumvitpoler]

I say sack the lot of the fuckers and crew the planes on the London-Bangkok route with Ladyboys.
They would appreciate the wage more and give a very good personal service to the punters

if your ears popped they would probably give us their cock to suck on as a comforter

[deepthroat]

Wow, I actually liked BA. I've used it every time I fly to Europe and on the last trip, I got a free upgrade to Business Class on the flight home for no reason at all.

I'm definitely pro-labor even though I've never been in a union, I just think it's short-sighted to think that management will give great pay and benefits unless forced to and unions seem to be the best way to bring them to their senses. Unions have taken a beating the past 25 years partially due to their own actions but also due to concerted propaganda from the right...

Seems like no one has much of a memory for history anymore, and since unions forged most of their major victories a generation or more ago, most folks today are more than ok with villifying them.

[Tomcat]

I would never use BA . The worlds worst airline. Ive been saying this for ten years

I dont care if EVA Air use slave labour or ex convict Pilots ...just get me there hassle free.

Viva Eva

[kahuna]

(deepthroat @ May 11 2010,13:58) I just think it's short-sighted to think that management will give great pay and benefits unless forced to and unions seem to be the best way to bring them to their senses.

I believe BA lost over six hundred million USD last year...Who knows how much this year...

So what I hear you saying is fuck the stockholders...Give in to the union member's demands despite the fact that there is likely nothing to give...That's not shortsighted?

Unions are doing themselves in...They don't need any help from the right...

[deepthroat]

The idea that management does this to help the shareholders is naive. They do it to line their own pockets, as so much of their pay is tied to the value of the stock. Thus, anything that will raise the stock price (by hook or by crook) is fair game. I'd have to agree that unions have helped in giving themselves a black eye, but when you're the last guy who's not working at Walmart or McDonalds and all the jobs that used to have good pay and fair benefits have been moved to asia or South Carolina, remember that this was done to ensure that the "shareholders" were receiving the most benefit possible.

Ultimately, the pendulum swung too far in labor's direction in the 50's and 60's, and the natural order of things means that it has swung too far in management's direction today. Hopefully something in the middle ground will eventually come to pass.

Look, I've never worked in a union job, and don't have a pension paid by the county or school district etc. But I do call on industrial customers every day in my job, and I've seen the best and worst of unions. I'm just saying there's a balance that unions provide that we seem to be myopic about.

I don't expect to find much support for this point of view on here.

[robbo]

the reality here is as with any business if its not viable to run as you used to run in an ever competative world then things must change.
as far as i am aware BA staff have enjoyed superior pay and conditions and prestige for many many years,often reflected in customer cost ie: the price of a ticket onboard meals,paying for that trolly dolly to stay in fab hotels when long haul and pay for their discounted personal air travel.
times change i will never pay BA prices very often double the price of say Emirates,Qatar etc who by the way are better airlines.
so the BA business model no longer works.........they are looking at their overheads to adjust this. i would do the same as i look at my competitors at the same time.
get a grip BA staff.....or get in the cue at the dole office.
yes we know about managment and shareholders wanting ever more but this is the way it is.
make everyone a shareholder then attitudes change for the good of all.

[deepthroat]

(robbo @ May 12 2010,01:48) i will never pay BA prices very often double the price of say Emirates,Qatar etc who by the way are better airlines.

I honestly don't know the answer to this, so I hope I'm not setting myself up!

My question is: do the cabin personnel at Emirates or Qatar receive substantially lower pay and benefits from the BA cabin crews? Or are those airlines more heavily subsidized by the sheiks than BA is by the UK taxpayer?

[Bumpa STIKKA]

Nationalize BA and sack all those who vote to strike.

Plenty more will fill their boots for less.

Fucking unions are a black stain on society.

[rxpharm]

Probably the best solution for BA is to adopt a model similar to Southwest Airlines where the staff are also shareholders of the company (in return for no union status). It becomes a partnership this way instead of the adversarial relationship so often seen between management and unions.

With regard to Emirates and Qatar Airways - you can imagine their fuel costs when departing from their home countries is a fraction of the cost other airlines pay. Big advantage right there.

Might be too late at this stage though.