Originally Posted by
bananahead
Surely the best scenario would be the two cabin crews working together on the same aircraft? I know from reading these threads that the T&C's are different but surely they can still work to their own T&C's while working together?
No. It's not just the T&Cs that are different, but the whole staffing structures and working practices of the different fleets.
The collective bargaining agreements that govern allowances payments, rostering, and operating procedures in the event of disruption form part of EuroFleet/Worldwide crew T&Cs. The latter in particular have in the past severely hampered the responsiveness and recovery of the operation during disruption, particularly when long-haul aircraft have to divert due to severe weather at London Heathrow. These are radically different on Mixed Fleet. BA battled for literally decades to modernise working practices, but to no avail.
EuroFleet/Worldwide also have a seniority system which allows, amongst other things, cabin crew to choose working positions on board the aircraft by reference to their seniority (ask a junior crew member on Worldwide what they think of it....). Again, Mixed Fleet breaks away from this system.
Starting a new fleet from scratch is not ideal, but maintaining the status quo of a permanently upward trend of above market costs and below market productivity and flexibility wasn't sustainable in the long run, particularly when other parts of the airline have been able to achieve very substantial modernisation of working practices through negotiation. There are also the largely unseen benefits of Mixed Fleet's flexibility in preventing fewer cancellations and much greater responsiveness to disruption on the network.