ba bob

I've had quite a bit of work travel over the last few weeks; it's been great to get back into the air again. By looking at this forum, it also looks great that I have actively avoided flying BA for any of it. With disaster after disaster whose root cause (after drilling down from Covid, weather etc.) is seemingly simply down to a lack of staff to effectively run the operation, one does need to wonder what's going on under the hood.

Do the folks here think that, after so much cost cutting, BA is still safe to fly with? Honest question. If the passenger experience is cared about so little, and the staffing levels are so threadbare, what's happening elsewhere in the airline? If staff are as demotivated as it seems, their pride in doing a good job will drop and they will become careless, worrying from a maintenance perspective. Also, should something major go wrong I don't think that they would have the operational capacity to actually deal with it effectively anymore. I used to choose BA knowing that I would be looked after if ever there was a major issue, I no longer have confidence in that assumption. It's a sad state of affairs.

Can I help you

Do you ever think a pilot would risk their own lives flying an unsafe aircraft, that should answer your question?

alex67500

I agree with CIHY, I don't think a pilot would get behind the stick if they didn't trust their colleagues

NickB

The question of the OP seems to me bizarre and I would not have the remotest qualm about flying on BA with respect to safety considerations.

However, the argument that an airline is safe just because pilots care about their own lives does not strike me as a particularly convincing argument. If that was the case, then one would have to conclude that every single airline in the world is extremely safe as every pilot on any airline would risk their own life flying on an unsafe aircraft or an airline with unsafe processes. Would you say that this is the case? Would you feel as safe on, say, some of those small Indonesian outfits as you would on BA or any other major airline because even on those outfits, pilots would not risk their lives?

The reality is that, while we might care about our lives, we may be in pressurized environments that mean that some shortcuts are taken. Airline pilots do have accidents, train drivers do have accidents, bus drivers do have accidents, etc.. and a rather poor safety culture and dubious practices from a safety perspective do sometimes contribute to some of these accidents.

That said, I do not see the remotest reason to consider that there are issues on that front with BA. But that is not because I think that BA pilots care more about their lives than pilots on somewhat less safe airlines. It is because I believe that there is still a very strong safety culture at BA and I see no reason to doubt that this still is the case.

Can I help you

Then you don’t know many BA pilots, large salaries, larger egos and at least two ex wives and numerous children to provide for? 😂😂😂
While they are looking after No.1, themselves you have nothing to worry about. 😉😉😉

CCayley

Even during the darkest days of the Cruz ‘cut everything’ regime the one thing that didn’t seem to be undermined was BA’s safety culture. The one factor that would not deter me one iota from choosing BA right now would be safety.

Sigwx

We spoke about this in 4 floors after C’est La Vie….stop outing me on public forums!! 😉

Sigwx

Double post.

Can I help you

We very well could have done. 😂😂😂

chris87

I am convinced that the answer to this is “yes”, but sadly I don’t think it’s a crazy question.

One only has to look at the Boeing/737 Max situation to see how a corporate culture that is focused on short term financial metrics/share price above all else is fundamentally incompatible with fostering and promoting a culture that prioritises safety.

justin_krusty

Safe yes.
Relying on them to get you to work meetings on time though, probably not so much right now.

ba bob

I have no doubt in my mind that the pilots are some of the best in the industry, but if there is cost cutting or carelessness due to a lack of motivation or job satisfaction and organisational commitment, BA will face outcomes such as higher turnover (which we know is the case), performance (which we know is the case), absenteeism, etc. etc. The pilot might be great, but they are only as good as the aircraft they are flying and the policies by which they have the freedom to operate it. If they cannot load the correct number of meals onto a flight, or know where to place the CE curtain to prevent 3-3 in CE but have empty seats at the back, what else is going wrong?

The catalog of passenger facing/impacting errors might be indicative of errors elsewhere in the business.

Midships

Not my experience. I gave my first golden ticket in years to a check in staff desk who really went the extra mile last month. Although the wait to speak on the phone is unacceptable, when you get through, the staff are helpful and cheerful, despite the hassle they must be getting from angry customers. On my last flight, the cabin crew were first class.

Yes there have been reports of demotivation during the recent disruption, but that is hardly surprising.

The _Banking_Scot

I agree that BA is safe but the customer experience is another story (BA cabin crew are generally very good but they need to be given more to work with)

Regards

Tbs

Tafflyer

Corrected that for you.