Sep 29, 2018, 10:12 am
BA to close HKG base [confirmed for Cabin Crew]
Sep 26, 2018, 1:46 am
#32
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Join Date: Jul 2002
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It’s only the cabin crew and they have all had their rosters stripped and won’t even have a chance to say goodbye to their friends in London, I cannot express my disgust in this company.
Sep 26, 2018, 1:53 am
#34
Join Date: Jan 2006
Programs: SAS Eurobonus - Blue / Emirates Skywards - Blue
Posts: 618
It's worse than you think in Japan - try reading this blog -> https://soranews24.com/2018/04/16/ev...gner-received/
It's the skill of being able to read things like this properly that BA are losing by closing their International crew bases.
I wonder how the closure will have an effect on Cathay's bottom line for high rev customers who want cantonese speaking staff ?
It's the skill of being able to read things like this properly that BA are losing by closing their International crew bases.
I wonder how the closure will have an effect on Cathay's bottom line for high rev customers who want cantonese speaking staff ?
Sep 26, 2018, 2:05 am
#36
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BA Gold; LH FTL; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold; ALL Gold
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I can understand that this might be a legitimate thing in social or business contexts, but if it's in answer to the question "Would you like the chicken or the beef?", I think the passenger only has himself to blame...
Sep 26, 2018, 2:36 am
#37
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
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Yeah you're right but are those people really going to want to go and work for BA on the current starting salaries at London wages ?.
If someone has got any form of decent language skills ( by this I mean University level graduate / spent time in the country ) they will be able to get a job with a much higher stating salary than BA.
I am not well versed in Cantonese works but I can tell you that someone with GCSE / A-Level Japanese will NOT cut it in premium cabins trying to communicate to a high flying Japanese customer in their native language. Japanese has very complex speech patterns depending on who you are talking to and the most demanding customers can look down VERY much on the slightest language mistakes.
At the very simplest level you could say its like knowing how to say "Wanna drink?" vs "Would Sir care for a drink?".
Not to mention being able to read when a Japanese client is using tatemae as well - knowig when they are saying one thing and meaning something else.
If someone has got any form of decent language skills ( by this I mean University level graduate / spent time in the country ) they will be able to get a job with a much higher stating salary than BA.
I am not well versed in Cantonese works but I can tell you that someone with GCSE / A-Level Japanese will NOT cut it in premium cabins trying to communicate to a high flying Japanese customer in their native language. Japanese has very complex speech patterns depending on who you are talking to and the most demanding customers can look down VERY much on the slightest language mistakes.
At the very simplest level you could say its like knowing how to say "Wanna drink?" vs "Would Sir care for a drink?".
Not to mention being able to read when a Japanese client is using tatemae as well - knowig when they are saying one thing and meaning something else.
Sep 26, 2018, 3:00 am
#39
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
Sep 26, 2018, 3:29 am
#41
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
Strange decision. It's a very high yield route and they struggle against CX enough as it is. Cantonese is not an easy language to find outside the PRD so i don't know where BA is going to get 2 flights a day of fluent speakers from.
Thankfully airlines in the region are growing so quickly the crew shouldn't struggle to find new employers.
Thankfully airlines in the region are growing so quickly the crew shouldn't struggle to find new employers.
Sep 26, 2018, 3:30 am
#42
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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That letter from Mr. Garry Bird certainly looks inept and unnecessarily blunt to the point of rudeness. We don't know if there was a meeting beforehand or some other form of communication, in which case it would be more understandable. I sincerely hope there is a support channel of some sort set up for those affected. These letters can't be sugar coated, it's bad news however you look at it, but it wouldn't have harmed to have spent 10 more minutes in phrasing it more kindly. And a paragraph mentioning the highlights of BA's HKG operations would not have gone amiss either. Dealing with bad news is part of life, but so is leaving with one's head held high.
Sep 26, 2018, 3:33 am
#43
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ORD [formerly] + HKG
Programs: CX Diamond, AA exExPlat, BAEC exGold, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Starriott Titanium, GE
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As per local papers, all 85 HK based CC (with 24 being contract) have been terminated, those rostered on tonight's departures were swapped out yesterday.
Per another local aviation forum the route will be going to MF afterwards.
While my memories of BA linger largely from the years as a kid and have now spent the past few years with CX, this is still quite disheartening and sad to hear about.
Per another local aviation forum the route will be going to MF afterwards.
While my memories of BA linger largely from the years as a kid and have now spent the past few years with CX, this is still quite disheartening and sad to hear about.
Sep 26, 2018, 3:59 am
#45
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,257
That letter from Mr. Garry Bird certainly looks inept and unnecessarily blunt to the point of rudeness. We don't know if there was a meeting beforehand or some other form of communication, in which case it would be more understandable. I sincerely hope there is a support channel of some sort set up for those affected. These letters can't be sugar coated, it's bad news however you look at it, but it wouldn't have harmed to have spent 10 more minutes in phrasing it more kindly. And a paragraph mentioning the highlights of BA's HKG operations would not have gone amiss either. Dealing with bad news is part of life, but so is leaving with one's head held high.