DYKWIA

But, as a shareholder, you'll benefit from this.

henkybaby

Last year I bought shares in IAG and stopped (mostly) flying them. Maybe that is saying something.

I felt that crew had lost their 'commitment' to their jobs in equal terms that BA had lost their interest in their crew. As a Performance Management specialist I was not surprised that service became less personal and less efficient. Flying on BA is not the very good experience it once was (we all say you can be lucky or unlucky with your crew, which in my line of work in unacceptable...) and I fear it will deteriorate more.

I did vote with my feet. BA could never legally get away with this anywhere else in the EU I believe. Most certainly not in the Netherlands. Maybe it is time the UK ended its love affair with the U.S., the stock exchange and big banking and came into the fold of the rest of Europe.

lorcancoyle

Is that a call for BA staff at LGW to copy striking French ferry workers (burning tyres on the approach to the North terminal?)

It does seem a pretty aggressive approach BA is taking, and in the context of UK minimum wage moving to £9 in a couple of years they should recognise that they'll need to pay / provide advancement opportunities to keep quality people. For a 40 hour week that'll be pushing £19k a year - for someone who's got experience and skills to get promotion would think a decent multiplier is in order, even 1.5x (I don't know how the allowances etc. work - but presume analogous to premium payments for overtime, unsocial hours, per diems etc.) would be pushing 20% more than the cap here

Not sure how much they're planning on saving from this, but thought new LGW crew had been on cheaper contracts for 15 years or so now. Couple of million on day 1 maybe - doesn't seem to be the issue on which to really raise the stakes. Maybe BA have hired Syriza as game theory advisers, and we saw how that worked out for Greece...

(I speak as a committed capitalist who has zero aviation business experience, but plenty of Monday morning quarterback / armchair CEO type experience! I would like my cabin crew to be getting properly remunerated though - it's not / shouldn't be a minimum wage with no tips role)

orbitmic

Indeed, neither legally nor, for that matter, socially. Not only would employment laws not permit this in other countries, but the proposal would certainly be perceived as "unfair" by public opinions from Germany to France and from Italy to Sweden and thus come with a non-negligible reputational cost, which, in my view would not be undeserved as Ba seem to be taking a forceful approach.

vibguy

A strike is not a powerful tool. Why not have some creative actions by the CC?
As an industrial action, they could announce on board of each flight that they have been forced by BA to work on a minimum wage contract and ask the passengers to leave a tip when leaving the aircraft if they were satisfied with the service. That would really hurt the reputation of BA! The CC should involve the passengers and have these on their side, this will not happen with a strike.

Oaxaca

A good point that getting the customers onside is important, though I imagine with the general public this would be very difficult for airline staff unless they could show the airline's actions were compromising safety.

They would have to be very careful with actions like you outline above, to avoid doing anything that breaches their terms of employment and allows the employer an easy disciplinary route. Strikes aren't always effective, though if done correctly they are at least legal.

simons1

Yes, if it improves the profitability of the airline then shareholders will benefit.

As will many customers, if the increased profits continue to be invested in new/additional aircraft.

peck

I disagree - a strike is an incredibly powerful tool. But it so desperately needs to be backed up by decent PR and comms, and it's this part that the unions almost always do so poorly.

Silver Fox

Yes it is. And as for the rest of it I think you forgot the smiley.

IAMORGAN

Cabin crew are part of the "soft product" though! You can have a shiny new aircraft (or in Gatwick's case a rusty third-hand aircraft with missing curtains, bulkheads and tray tables all held together by ubiquitous sticky tape) but without good crew it's worthless.

Jimmie76

I've worked for two companies where they made people with years of experience leave. In both cases it was a disaster and they made one bloke redundant at one firm because his role was deemed superfluous. They ended up re-hiring him a few months later when they realised their mistake was almost catastrophic.

This sounds like short term gain for long term pain at LGW.

crazy8534

Worthwhile saying that BA's plans are cleverly tied-in with the new legislation which will make it much harder for a strike ballot to be legal in the transport sector (among others).

Society has changed significantly over the past few years in ways which not everybody sees as positive: a preponderance of zero hours / hours to be notified contracts, erosion of pension benefits across private and public sectors, the death of most of the old 'jobs for life'. As mentioned above I think that BA will not find any difficulty in recruiting young and inexperienced people to cabin crew roles after these changes, even after a decimation of the terms and conditions that go with them. Most of our young people now already face a lifetime of employment uncertainty and delayed retirement to avoid poverty.

It is often forgotten that our system of finance and investment does not merely require healthy profits but year-on-year growth of profits. This leads to ongoing downward pressure on staff terms, onboard service and executive club benefits.

I have had many dealings with LGW crews and knowing their professionalism and attitude I offer my sincere sympathy.

Silver Fox

Sadly, all we do in this country these days is offer tea and biscuits.

thejohn

true but without the tea and the biscuits....and only cold water no milk or sugar.
John

Andriyko

The erosion of the benefits only happened because there is no way to pay for it. The "good times" lasted for a few decades, and all of the developed countries ended up with huge debts. Those over 40 are the luckier ones, but those in their 20s and 30s are in for a shock - not only will they have to repay the debt incurred to pay those unrealistic benefits but they will not get anything close to what people get now. What is going on is simply a return to normalncy of sorts - borrowing is not a sustainable way of a good life. Any economic growth now will only contribute to the repayment of the debt rather than new benefits. I won't be surprised if there are no pensions at all in 20 or 30 years, and I hear a lot of people my age and younger asking themselves why pay any pension contributions if they won't see anything in return? It may be a shock to people over a certain age that jobs are not for life, salaries cannot only grow and benefits cannot only become better. Young kids live in a world where the job can be gone tomorrow, salaries only become lower and benefits are something we heard of. Sad but a reality that most accept.