A selection of your views
Newest additions as of 29 Jan 2008
BA needs its pilots more than BA needs WW. Our (yours and mine) long term
future lies with BA, in a few years WW's will lie elsewhere....
BA have for years abused, no destroyed, the trust of its workforce. Trust
that could have been rebuilt had those above us chosen to do so. So instead
we're left with 'assurances' that are so full of holes that if ever The Good
Ship Assurances put to sea it wouldn't even make it out of port.
Finally we are united as a workforce to say enough is enough and we are tired
of listening to hollow arguments as to why OS pilots should not be on the BA
seniority list. There is one thing that I am sure of, if this goes to ballot
the support for a strike will be overwhelming. I think now more than ever we
realise that unless the company reconsider we have no option. I hope the LT
realise that we are not playing chicken. We WILL use action if necessary. It
would be a very foolish LT not to sit down at the negotiating table having
reconsidered their position and admit that on this occasion they got it wrong
and that common sense has prevailed.
BA has signaled its desire to be not just a UK based airline any more, but
to grow into becoming an EU based airline. We fully intend to also be an EU
based pilot group. To confine us to the UK alone, whilst at the same time not
confine BA to the UK alone is unacceptable to the pilot workforce. It is as
simple as that.
If I'm made to choose between my family or BA, I think you know what my answer
will be. I should never be put in that position and I resent the fact that
all the evidence suggests I have been. Let's hope the architect of this venture
finds sanity before it's too late.
A principle based argument would lead to a position where it was possible
for BA to engage in a speculative venture but still provide a legally enforceable
guarantee to those of us who are a part of the BA brand, passionately want
it to succeed but are not prepared to see our livelihoods destroyed without
good reason. Certainly, I'm damned if I am going to support a venture that
has the sole objective of stripping out the core of BA, such an agenda is deceitful,
confrontational and has no place in a successful organisation.
You question why we have little trust in the Leadership Team, I find it interesting
you are asking now? The Speak Up survey 2006 showed that only 32% of BA staff
had confidence in the Leadership Team, by March 2007 that sat at 28% (39% behind
the leading 10 companies) and now sits at 25%. I'll turn it round for you,
what have this leadership team done to show that they believe a non confrontational
partnership approach is in the best interests of both the company and employees?
We are a very dedicated workforce, and want to see OS work, but to all of
our benefit, not at our expense. Descriptions of 'contamination' and 'inflexibility'
are frankly offensive given our present operating environment. There were a
lot of pilots in that queue after the incident last week saying "what would
you like us to do?" not "I reported for x, you can't make me do y". We do our
best, day in and day out to keep the operation going in very difficult circumstances
and this is a slap in the face.
The bottom line is the BA pilot community doesn't trust its management. Perhaps
the LT needs to ask itself "Why?"
Just in case you have got the impression that we are all being brainwashed
by the BACC, can I say to you that is not the case. I may not be the sharpest
knife in the drawer, but I can see what the LT are trying to do. The lame and
patronising arguments from yourself and other management only emphasise the
point. Your work (collectively) over the last few years has meant that you
have little or no respect with us, so trying to play the card of "don't trust
your reps, make sure you listen to us" is really quite insulting.
BA assurances count for what exactly? There in lies the problem. I don't,
and will not, trust BA management assurances with a barge pole. BA management
assurances count for nothing. You reap what you sow. 100% support to the BACC.
I trust what they say.
I want access to any pilot opportunities that deregulation brings airlines.
I want to contribute to making such opportunities a success.
I would relish having more control over the whole operation than I get on mainline.
I find it insulting that BA doesn't want me to crew Openskies.
I can't understand their "reasons" why.
I don't know why BA won't talk.
This is the most important issue for me yet.
It is a big threat to my BA career.
I don't want to risk staying with a dieing duck.
I'm in BA 100% or out 100%.
So I'm 100% behind BALPA.
At least Dick Turpin wore a mask.
What happens when True eu-us open skies happens?
IE When the US gives as well as takes.
Who will fly JFK-LAX etc..? BA or OpenSkies?
This takes opportunities away from us.
BA Pilots fly BA planes!!!
I want BA and OpenSkies to succeed and be the best possible.
I fully support the BACC to achieve this!
Do you see the global aviation industry becoming more or less regulated in
the next 15 years? Here's a clue.
Inter EU flying deregulated in the mid 90's
UK-India deregulated in 2006
UK-Singapore deregulated in 2007
EU-USA deregulated in 2008
KLM-Air France-(maybe Alitalia to)-NorthWest
Lufthansa-Swiss
WAKE UP. We have, and we want to take part in this increasingly deregulated
industry, and not just from LHR or the UK.
BA MASTER SENIORITY FOR ALL
Congratulations are indeed due. You (management) have united the Pilot community
as I have NEVER seen them united before, be it '96, Pensions, Work Coverage.
It takes a rare team to achieve that. Well done.
The announcement of a supplementary bid at a time like this, and via email
rather than PRIAM is frankly disgusting and an obvious, underhand, cheap tactic.
BA management are showing their true colours with that little move.
Frankly, I find the information that BA are seeking pilots who possess a "different" set
of skills, (psychological, personal and numerical/analytical) for Open Skies
insulting. Also, I am rather bemused about how having an already trained, current
and motivated workforce available at the drop of a scheduling hat for a start-up
fails to give Open Skies (BA) management the flexibility it has been claimed
they require.
The intransigence being displayed by our (Lack of) Leadership Team is staggering.
Listen to your pilots, think, and then take the steps necessary to avoid a
damaging strike. None of us want to come out on strike - we all want a strong
and successful BA - but we are not prepared to see our jobs sold down the river.
I hope the rest of my colleagues are not as self-centred or as gullible as
you perceive them to be. (Was the phrase used by a senior manager "We would
contaminate Openskies")? In fact, our union is pushing the point "don't vote
for a strike if you are not prepared to go on strike" so the vote result will
translate to numbers on the picket line.
My perceived future and that of my family is about to be snatched away and
I for one will not allow that to happen without a fight.
Many of us (and when I say us I mean all staff in BA) feel the LT regard
us as expendable, who add nothing to the company except a minus sign on the
balance sheet. For pilots, this could not be displayed more appropriately than
our exclusion from OpenSkies, and the obvious opportunity to undermine us that
the LT will not waste.
In nearly 35 years of service, I have never before felt so remote from the
people who are supposedly our managers (whoever and wherever they happen to
be in their current round of musical chairs!). As a professional group we are
grossly undervalued by BA, and treated appallingly, in marked contrast to the
company's very different attitude to the large (and militant) group of employees
that we fly with. I no longer feel that management support me; they are just
too occupied in putting us down.
I just wanted to say that I totally support your position on this issue.
It will make no difference whatsoever to my career/position in BA, but I feel
very strongly that now is the time to dig our heels in and stop the continual
stream of unwarranted and ill-judged attacks on our terms and conditions by
an aggressive and totally insensitive management, and protect the futures of
our junior colleagues.
My respect for my employer is at an all-time low, and I feel thoroughly demotivated,
dispirited and angry. BA, more than any company I have ever worked for, pays
lip service to looking after its employees while actually exploiting them for
all they are are worth in the relentless pursuit of cash savings and its bottom
line.
BA's disingenuous approach to the issue of OpenSkies and Schedule K sickens
and disgusts me - there are no other words for it. The thing which really grates
is - as ever - the lack of honesty from BA management in attempting to hoodwink
the BA pilot community with the usual cocktail of spin, slick presentation
and weasel words into meekly accepting such an appalling threat to our terms
and conditions.
Completely behind BALPA on this issue. It's inconceivable that BA can fly
BA planes to service its core business using BA's brand and then use non BA
pilots to staff the airline. In 20 years time when BA mainline is Openskies
little brother where will that leave us?
I totally agree. I find the argument that BA is looking for flexible pilots
who are able to operate without Maintrol etc and thus does not want BA mainline
pilots utterly bizarre. Who amongst us has not wished that we could not be
left alone to run the operation without constant outside interference?
We should not be fooled! The BA brand is so strong that it will grow very
strongly on the European continent. Not only will we fly to the US but ultimately
probably also to the Middle East, "oil Africa" and possibly India and China.
Well congratulations you've brought the most onside group in the company
to an inevitable strike ballot.
100% support for BALPA over this. What are BA thinking?
I'm sorry it's come to this but why does the company seem to want to alienate
the one workforce that bends over backwards to keep it on the road. I personally
feel undervalued and I don't think our management really understand how hard
we try to keep the show on the road and how far above and beyond the call we
go. Yet I still go in to discretion and reduce rest no questions asked every
time. Not this time. I've stopped giving. I'm with BALPA 100% and so is everyone
I've talked to about the subject. It's going to be painful but necessary.
How stupid can people get, it will go to strike and it's going to be very
painful for all. The only outcome will be a massive loss for BA, our families
and eventually WW. Do you really not understand the feeling on the front line?
100% strike I'm afraid. I am yet to find another opinion!!
I find it hard to believe that the LT really want a strike over a subsidiary
that they claim will only make a marginal profit. But apparently they do. And
that tells me that there is far more at stake than maybe even we realise.
Incredible. Either the company knows how we feel and doesn't care because
of ulterior motives, or it has no idea how this is going down on the line and
as a result has massively misjudged its position. I truly wish PL to succeed
- but have no option but to back BALPA 100%.
Well done, BA, to alienate the most onside group in the airline - more than
some managers, I might add, who are more concerned with short-term bonuses
than the long-term success of our airline group.
It is obvious that the LT have no interest in the long term future of BA.
We will be suffering the effects of this long after the LT have left with healthy
bonuses, guaranteed pensions and a directorship or two. Ladies and gentlemen,
morale has now left the building....
I am saddened that the company I work for is so poorly managed. For you to
waste so much money by pushing us to an inevitable strike like this, is simply
unforgivable.
You squander millions and then go out of you way to insult and de-motivate
your most flexible and dedicated staff at a critical time. If our Board of
Directors is good enough for OpenSkies then so are our Pilots. But the board
obviously feel that the current Pilot force are second rate employees and are
not good enough for OpenSkies.
100% backing for BALPA on this one. What are the LT thinking?! Greed, greed,
greed, and zero appreciation of the one staff group who go above and beyond
the call of duty on a daily basis. Just a shame that the strike will inevitably
affect everyone, and not just the LT, who'll be getting nothing less than they
deserve. Probably won't affect their bonuses though.
Clearly (and not at all reluctantly) I'm going to have to rejoin BALPA sooner
than anticipated, but rejoin I shall. My house build may have to wait until
next year if I'm going to be without income for a couple of months.
BA LT - you have pushed this too far.
I am saddened that the LT see a need for confrontation over this and are
unable to see the benefits of a productive and trusting relationship with their
pilots. One minute we are being told that we are a valued and important part
of the company and next that we aren't to be part of Lauren as we would be
a handicap. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. I am truly impressed with the current
Leadership Team. They have managed to achieve the impossible. A UNITED PILOT
WORKFORCE. I love working for BA and despite the damage that will be caused
to us all you have left me with no option but to see this through to the bitter
end. I SUPPORT BALPA 100% AND WILL STRIKE INDEFINITELY OVER THIS.
Ignore this message at your peril and do not come back and say that you think
BALPA are out of touch with its members. British Airways, what have you done
.................... ? Once again our Leadership Team seek to grasp defeat
from the jaws of victory.
You could have had the pilots working with you to make OpenSkies succeed
but instead you risk long term damage to the company by provoking a completely
unnecessary strike! Our 'management' have got it very badly wrong (again) if
they think that we are going to back down on this issue. Full support for BALPA's
position. BA's management techniques over this issue have more in common with
Victorian mill-owners than a modern company. Leadership team: How did you think
refusing to talk to the BACC initially followed best practice in change management?
Your actions and their consequences over this issue will be used as an example
of how 'not to do it' in textbooks and seminars for years to come. I put my
back into keeping this threepenny operation together everyday. I return home
physically exhausted and emotionally drained from the frustration.
My reward from you lot is a cynical attempt to screw me and my family to
line your own pockets with cash.
Your loyalty is noted. My mind is made up. So all the letters telling us
how much the company value us are worth diddly squat, nice way to repay my
loyalty over the years when most of us have gone beyond the line to keep the
airline moving, despite the best efforts of ground staff, security, gate gourmet
etc. Astonishing.