'A Very British Airline' : BA Documentary, airs BBC2 from Mon 2 June
Jun 15, 2014, 2:24 pm
#751
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Jun 16, 2014, 12:26 pm
#752
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Caught up with the second episode - very much enjoyed the JFK parts. The cabin crew training continues to be mildly embarrassing - I very much disagree with the snapshot thing, and to get one for being delayed by a serious incident on the roads is just plain ludicrous.
Jun 16, 2014, 1:15 pm
#753
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I just finished watching the two episodes on iPlayer and read a few comments here. With regards to the two F passengers in the first episode, wasn't anyone else surprised when it was mentioned that the guy does 300 segments per year? I've seen people on FT boast 1 million miles in a year, but never 300 segments. A bit of an exaggeration there?
At the height of my travels I was up there doing that number with a mix of Long Haul and a different short haul every day.
Now desk bound so only fly once a month if that.
Jun 16, 2014, 1:37 pm
#754
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300 Segments is not too dificult. If you live in the provinces and need to hub through LHR and then travel onwards from that flight and do it almost every week then its possible.
At the height of my travels I was up there doing that number with a mix of Long Haul and a different short haul every day.
At the height of my travels I was up there doing that number with a mix of Long Haul and a different short haul every day.
Jun 16, 2014, 1:38 pm
#755
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Monday: morning in NCL then NCL-LHR-JNB
Tuesday: day in JNB then JNB-LHR-NCL
Wednesday: day in NCL
Thursday: morning in NCL then NCL-LHR-LAX
Friday: day in NCL then LAX-LHR-NCL
Rinse and repeat will give you 320 sectors over a working year of 40 weeks and only two working afternoons per week are lost to travel.
If you bought F tickets then your TP haul would be 1,000 per week and Avios haul would be 70,492 per week. Over a 40 week year that would be 40k TPs and 2.8 million Avios. If you bought fully flexible F tickets using your BA Amex PP then you would earn another 2.8 million Avios.
Last edited by Sixth Freedom; Jun 16, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Jun 16, 2014, 1:57 pm
#756
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Jun 16, 2014, 2:04 pm
#757
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Jun 16, 2014, 2:50 pm
#759
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Definitely the best of the 3 episodes IMO. Probably helped by absence of cabin crew training segments (although they had their interesting moments). I really enjoyed seeing the operations management team and the flight crew doing engine failure training.
Sure, the whole thing seems pretty 'corporate-approved' but 'me-no-care', can watch 'air crash investigation' any other day of the week!
Sure, the whole thing seems pretty 'corporate-approved' but 'me-no-care', can watch 'air crash investigation' any other day of the week!
Jun 16, 2014, 2:54 pm
#760
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If you want to see more of the training side of things then look at the Baltic Aviation material on youtube.
Almost every training scanario has been documented by them: https://www.youtube.com/user/marketingBAA
Almost every training scanario has been documented by them: https://www.youtube.com/user/marketingBAA
Jun 16, 2014, 2:54 pm
#761
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The "snap shot" thing is pretty typical in cabin crew training. Maybe called something different on other airlines but most major airlines practice it. You are generally given zero leeway in being late.
Jun 16, 2014, 3:01 pm
#762
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Well that was a far better programme.
If the other 2 had been more like tonight then it would have been a much better series.
Interesting to see more of the operational side.
If the other 2 had been more like tonight then it would have been a much better series.
Interesting to see more of the operational side.
Jun 16, 2014, 3:07 pm
#764
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Echo everyone else's comments- the best episode of the whole series and a shame that the other 2 did not follow the same lines.
Very interesting, such a shame the cadets were not followed in each episode.
Very interesting, such a shame the cadets were not followed in each episode.
Jun 16, 2014, 3:15 pm
#765
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I found myself thinking half-way through the episode that this was a lot more boring than the previous ones... then it hit me how much the "documentary" format has changed in the last 10 years and how you've come to view factual as something else when it comes to these types of format. I then realized I much prefer the factual approach of tonight's program.
Mind you, and although it is probably reflective of reality, I found it a bit odd how condescending the CC training was vs. the highly interactive approach to learning given to the pilots (based on the very few tidbits). Also quite apparent that BA view their pilots as their "gems".
Obviously a good marketing tool for BA and quite apparent they've laid on some of their best people (Ops, pilot for the flight, gate handler who took care of the MIA flight, , check-in manager, etc...) as expected which does reflect well for them in the end.
Mind you, and although it is probably reflective of reality, I found it a bit odd how condescending the CC training was vs. the highly interactive approach to learning given to the pilots (based on the very few tidbits). Also quite apparent that BA view their pilots as their "gems".
Obviously a good marketing tool for BA and quite apparent they've laid on some of their best people (Ops, pilot for the flight, gate handler who took care of the MIA flight, , check-in manager, etc...) as expected which does reflect well for them in the end.