The BA strike.

[sleepyhead]

The strikes are completely uncalled for especially considering the timing of it all. A bunch of idiots who don't or cannot see the bigger picture. PR wise they probably have destroyed BA and themselves out of a job.

They have striked around the christmas perioud purely to try to insure they get their own way which is completely wrong.

I've not flown BA for sometime but have known BA Line Mechs and met a few crew cabin and talked to a nice pilot of an ATR72; generally nice enough people quite happy with their lot in life.

[Lucio]

Ignoring reason and common sense here (because I can?)

The unions are obviously desperate to justify their fat salaries by ensuring that at least one major strike per quarter is organised and will go to any lengths to justify it. In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that if the unions were stopped from being private companies it would in fact, improve the lot of their members.

So in short, hang the unions out to dry instead!

[Blitzen]

For short haul, I think BA is rapidly becoming the Sainsbury of the air (keeps them out of waitrose).

Even though i do not agree with their action, i do fly regular shorthaul to Germany/France/Holland, this Animus, is absolute rubbish.

The service is very good.

[99Flake]

Even though i do not agree with their action, i do fly regular shorthaul to Germany/France/Holland, this Animus, is absolute rubbish.

The service is very good.

I am intriguiged, I know many many people that fly BA short/medium haul and they all say that they would rather chew their own feet off than fly with them but often have no choice.

I am not saying you are wrong or that the service is bad but with what other airlines do you take that comparison?

[Whiternoise]

I am intriguiged, I know many many people that fly BA short/medium haul and they all say that they would rather chew their own feet off than fly with them but often have no choice.

I am not saying you are wrong or that the service is bad but with what other airlines do you take that comparison?

Have they ever flown with a proper budget airline?



EasyJet - Well, just no. Hidden charges, poor service, the lot.

Virgin Atlantic - Awesome service, but you pay for it.

British Airways - Flown with them many times, staff are polite and friendly, they generally give you something to eat (i've had Pizza in the past) and always give you seconds if you ask.

SAS - Pretty bog standard, they fly you, no harm done but they don't go out of their way either.

BA are often very cheap because they don't charge you for extras like checking baggage. Often you might get a "better" deal if you book with an 'airline' like RyanAir, but you inevitably get nobbled by surcharges. It cost me less to fly to Krakow with BA than it did to fly EasyJet, (£49 to £96 respectively) simply because i was charged for checking baggage, hiring a pilot, etc.


Just because Royal Fail strike every few weeks doesn't mean i'll stop using them - because when they're actually running normally they're pretty good. Post arrives quickly, on time and often next day if it's first class. I'm not going to stop flying British Airways just because their unions are morons.

[SammEl]

I am intriguiged, I know many many people that fly BA short/medium haul and they all say that they would rather chew their own feet off than fly with them but often have no choice.

I am not saying you are wrong or that the service is bad but with what other airlines do you take that comparison?

BA are brilliant, we travel with them once or twice a year, and are much better than any other airline to our destination (Egypt).

Agree with above poster.

Online media player 4tw.

[TheAnimus]

Even though i do not agree with their action, i do fly regular shorthaul to Germany/France/Holland, this Animus, is absolute rubbish.

The service is very good.

Do you frequently fly many of the others? I would put BA considerably below say Citijet in terms of service for a Frankfurt route I fly regularly.

Play fair to my analogy, the jamie oliver supermarket has a growing profit and market share, there are evidently plenty of people whom its right for.

However, personally I find it offers lesser value for money. And I don't think ANYONE is going to say its as good as say Cathay or Asiana or Virgin are they? It is a world appart.

Just because Royal Fail strike every few weeks doesn't mean i'll stop using them - because when they're actually running normally they're pretty good. Post arrives quickly, on time and often next day if it's first class. I'm not going to stop flying British Airways just because their unions are morons.

But when you send post you normally know if its going to be effected, by that I mean you don't book your post 6 months in advance.

With Baggage Anywhere (yes, I still hold that grudge 18 months on) you may well book your Christmas flight months and months in advance, then find that the cost of an alternative is a factor of 5 higher if your lucky (you may well find no economy seats left on your route, and it could be 10 times higher).

That is ultimately the difference.

And this is what gets me about unions, its all a pathetic me me me me me thing, they have forgotten what BA is about, its not about its workforce at all, its about its customers, if the workforce is allowed to forget that, and the union and management both share the blame for that, they are not a company as a customer I want to use!

[Mossy]

I have never fully understood strikes, what I do understand is that the only people who do it are the ones who can cause national havoc by doing so

Postal Strikes
London Underground
Airlines

The key is in the time they have choosen to strike a time of maximum impact to the public or kick em where it hurts so in my opinion actions like this just proves to me the people who make these kind of decisions have no negotiation skills when you have to resort to something like this to make your point. I mean wasnt it said 95% of people who voted didnt even know that they were voting for a 12 day strike over Christmas? that should say it all.

[david@scan]

Never flown BA - but so far have been happy enough with Ryan Air & Easyjet.

[Blitzen]

I am intriguiged, I know many many people that fly BA short/medium haul and they all say that they would rather chew their own feet off than fly with them but often have no choice.

I am not saying you are wrong or that the service is bad but with what other airlines do you take that comparison?

Ryanair
Lufthansa
Air France
Quantas (to Frankfurt)

[99Flake]

Ryanair
Lufthansa
Air France
Quantas (to Frankfurt)

The only two out of those I have flown are Quantas and Ryanair. Yes I would agree BA is better than Ryanair but so is jumping of a cliff and trying to fly, they are truely awful plus not a 100% fair comparison as they are a 'budget' airline (ignoring all the hidden charges etc).

Quantas on the other hand have always been brilliant when I have been on them (long haul only mind), almost on a par with Cathay (but not quite).

[Bugbait]

I voted, "Yes, I believe in entitlment" (spelling mistake intact). Do I agree with the strike? No. Do I think the strike is selfishly timed? Absolutely. This has no bearing on the OP's question though. Regardless of my personal opinions on the strike I think they still have the right. I think they're being stupid and will loose the majority of public sympathy given the timing but they should still have the right to strike. Why? BA aren't the sole source of an essential service. This isn't like the emergency services where there is only one source of service. There are other domestic and international flight carriers. They are multiple ways to get from A to B in many cases.

Is it a huge inconvenience for them to strike at this time of year? Absolutely, but ultimately it's an inconvenience to most more than something life threatening.

[Barrichello]

The high court has rejected the strike, who would of thought that.

So mass sickies from BA cabin crew incoming?

[GheeTsar]

The high court has rejected the strike, who would of thought that.

So mass sickies from BA cabin crew incoming?

I imagine this only postpones the strike issue until they can do the ballot again legally. Still, at least the Christmas rush will be over by then.

[shaithis]

Thank god the court ruled against the union.....to strike over xmas when BA are in the mess they are, at a time when most people are not getting pay rises and a lot of people would just be happy to have a job, was completely and utterly selfish and out-of-order IMO.

If they take sick en mass, I hope BA investigate them and sack anyone found to be flaunting sickness.

[Saracen]

I have never fully understood strikes, what I do understand is that the only people who do it are the ones who can cause national havoc by doing so

Postal Strikes
London Underground
Airlines

The key is in the time they have choosen to strike a time of maximum impact to the public or kick em where it hurts so in my opinion actions like this just proves to me the people who make these kind of decisions have no negotiation skills when you have to resort to something like this to make your point. I mean wasnt it said 95% of people who voted didnt even know that they were voting for a 12 day strike over Christmas? that should say it all.

Not really, no. The key to who can strike is who can exert serious pressure on the people their in dispute with, not just those that can cause national havoc. It's certainly true that the ones with large and.or national implications are the only ones we tend to hear much about, and it's also true (thankfully) that strikes are far less common than they were in, say, the 60s or 70s.

For a strike to be effective, you really must be able to hurt (economically or financially) the employer, or while you could strike without that, it'd pretty much be doomed to fail.

And whether a strike fails or succeeds generally depends on what you're striking about, and how much you can hurt the employer. I mean, if you, personally, decided to strike, could Scan carry on more or less unaffected, at least, short-term? My guess, probably. But what if every member of staff other than directors joined or formed a union and went on strike? Short of firing everyone (if they legally could) and recruiting a whole new staff, sooner or later they'd pretty much have to reach a settlement, unless doing so simply wasn't viable. So if you all wanted a £1 million a week pay rise, you aren't likely to get it under any circumstances. If you wanted a slightly better brand of loo paper in the staff lav, my guess is you'd get it pretty quickly if you all went on strike over it. .

Both sides have to have aims, both sides have to be prepared to compromise, depending on what the issues are, and on the overall climate. No company can compromise to the extent that the company isn't viable if they do. So a dispute may come down to a deal consisting of :-

- a pay cut,
- reduced hours
- some compulsory redundancies
- some changed working practices ....

... and so on. There have been cases in the past where the union have made demands management can't or won't meet, and the company has ended up going out of business, and everyone ended up losing their job. Nobody wants a pay cut, or reduced hours, etc but sometimes, that's what it comes to.