Originally Posted by Custardthecat

John, thank you for your apology which is gratefully accepted. In my opinion the application was bound to be dismissed but Judges are successfully appealed all the time. I have not heard anything to change my view that the appellant will fail again. However if they can find one single issue to hang a legal argument on then they may well succeed in muddying the waters. The facts of the matter i.e. the detail of that would probably be unknown to both of us at this point. As an outsider, observing inwards, it does seem that BA may not expect to win at appeal but they are succeeding in getting customers away meantime whilst the legal argument goes on. There seems to be no bar to announcing the dates now negotiating with BA at ACAS, calling the strikes off if either an appeal is successful or a settlement is reached. John, I accept that debt is a weighty issue but it is still a personal one. My view and my desperation not to have my travel with my children disrupted also has many personal aspects attached, some of which you might be sympathetic to but which are irrelevant to the argument. Of course, prima facie, it is a selfish view as I don't want my holiday disrupted. Self interest plays its part, as it does in the BA dispute. Everyone is selfish to a degree in outlook. I ask you to accept that I am literally, the man in the middle, the customer. There is a dispute between two groups that will potentially impact me. I have allegiances to neither. I support the view that one may withdraw their labour. Yet I will not lend my support to the pilots because of the perception I have based on the information to hand. You (if you are one) would gain enormous traction with the public if you let the children have their hols first and then set about causing the chaos that will still undoubtedly flow even after the school holiday period. Causing needless suffering really wont endear the pilots to anyone and may throw the public behind the airline after the holidays. In fact their arguments will be less likely to be heard above all the public outcry. The media reports wont be about the actually nitty gritty but about the chaos at airports as small children are used as pawns. This may sound harsh to you but in the event the media may be very unforgiving as they seek a headline that sells papers. I've lived through many disputes that a strike has resulted, dustmen, tube drivers, miners, cabin crew. None of them particularly gained public sympathy. I'm sure you feel now that is irrelevant but take it from me, there may be a time for a more considered view.