Originally Posted by HMPS

When is a good time to announce layoffs ?
Just when Lite's very clear and well articulated posts are winning a lot of sympathy for the union members ...your post may ignite fires which may work against you all. Wish you had posted who and where at the same time.

If they were laid off four weeks before X Mas, or day after would it help them ? Could one then say if they were told earlier they would have pared down their X Mas expenses , put off a mini vacation etc ? Layoffs are terrible and most of the time the person who delivers the bad news feels the pain, perhaps even thinking " but for the grace of god, there goes meself"

Outsourcing is a fact of life, surplus of labour from many other countries is a fact of life. Cannot make it go away. As long as there are people much poorer than those of us living in an affluent society, the conflicts will go on.
Although those at the top who decided to lop off X % of expenses by means A B or C hardly ever give it a second thought.

Originally Posted by strichener

You can say the same about strike action. We don't know the demographics of the people affected by the strike action to know if they are travelling specifically to meet people for Xmas or just having a holiday where they managed to obtain cheap flights.

Originally Posted by Lite

Sorry, I should have said those overtime opportunities as well as offered to pay to come in have been offered to Mixed Fleet. Like you say though, they are also relying on being able to cover flights with the other fleets.

Fingers crossed with ACAS like you say, none of us want to cause any inconvenience and also we want to just be able to come to work and do our jobs. Sadly if no agreement can come together, I will strike in this industrial action and will also be putting my CV out to competitor airlines and take my Golden Ticket winning labour 😉 elsewhere, even if it means a "demotion" to Cabin Crew and losing my seniority. I would be very sad to say goodbye to many friends both onboard in the galleys and also Exec Club frequent fliers I've met on my travels.

Originally Posted by Falcs

Even ignoring the fact it is meant to be a happy/festive period - most employers wind down around Christmas meaning it is a terrible time to be laid off because recruitment activity tends to be very low and doesn't ramp up until late January.
So to answer your question, sometime in the new year's would be a better time because employees will have a better chance to secure a new job within a shorter timeframe

Originally Posted by BA.MF.CSM

Having stayed quiet about this one as I am thankfully not in over the festive period, I am in the same boat. First time since I joined and actually in my fifteen years in the job, I am thinking about other options. BA is a company, I never thought I would say, I no longer want to work for. It is sad after all my years of loving this red, white and blue, to know and learn the truth about how it treats it's staff. The simple truth about that, is awfully.

Kind regards

BA.MF.CSM

Originally Posted by Aus_Mal

Has there been any proactive cancellations? Just seems odd that on the 25th there is zero availability to bcn.

Originally Posted by bealine

BA flights have always been full on Christmas Day for at least the last 10 years so, if not booked well in advance, you're unlikely to find availability on any carriers into or out of the UK.

Originally Posted by Aus_Mal

Has there been any proactive cancellations? Just seems odd that on the 25th there is zero availability to bcn.

Originally Posted by Aus_Mal

My problem is that I'm looking at the BA timetable, plus flight searches, plus Expert Flyer, and there are ZERO BA flights from LHR to BCN on the 25th.