So cabin crew at BA are going on strike. What is CX going to do with those who have through bookings from LHR to Europe/UK on BA?? Will CX put those people onto another airline or abandon them in LHR to the perils of BA?

http://www.britishairways.com/travel...fevent=twitter

press release from BA CEO
A message from Willie Walsh

You may have heard that Unite, the union that represents our cabin crew, has threatened strike action between December 22, 2009 and January 2, 2010.

Let me say immediately we will do everything we can to assist you at what will clearly be a very difficult time if strikes go ahead. We are working hard on contingency plans, and will announce them as soon as they are finalised.

We are also urging Unite to return to the negotiating table. There are important issues on which we have asked them to put forward new ideas.

Strike action is completely unjustified.

It's no secret that British Airways is in financial difficulty. Like other global airlines, we have been hit extremely hard by the slump in business travel brought on by the world recession.

We lost �400m last year and will lose at least as much this year. These are the worst financial results in our history. Our revenue is down �1 billion, so reducing costs is absolutely essential even to begin heading back toward profitability and long-term survival.

Many of my colleagues understand this. Our pilots have agreed a pay cut. Our engineers have agreed more efficient ways of working. A third of our managers have accepted voluntary redundancy. And nearly 7,000 colleagues volunteered for salary reductions because they wanted to help this great British company in a time of need.

But our cabin crew union has refused to engage in this process seriously.

My admiration for the professionalism and skills of British Airways cabin crew is second to none. They are an absolutely vital part of our airline, and a great asset. But they have been disgracefully misled by Unite as to how our company-wide cost reduction programme would affect them.

Unite claims that we are trying to "intimidate workers into accepting poorer contracts", forcing crew to leave the company, and "attacking" their pay and allowances.

This is fiction. Our package involves no reduction in terms or conditions for existing crew. Our Heathrow crew will remain the best paid in the industry. Average earnings for cabin services directors are �56,000 on long-haul and �52,000 on short-haul. For junior crew, they are �35,000 and �26,000 respectively. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, average costs of BA crew are twice those of their Virgin Atlantic counterparts.

In fact, despite our financial backdrop, more than 10,000 of our cabin crew will receive pay rises of between two and seven per cent this year, and again next year. In the worst recession since the Second World War, these are increases many employees in other walks of life can only dream about.

We have created opportunities for voluntary redundancy, and more than 1,000 crew have taken that option. Similarly, more than 3,000 crew have volunteered to switch to part-time working.

To accommodate these requests, we have made a small change in our onboard crew numbers from Heathrow, without affecting service standards. Our Gatwick flights have been operating on equivalent crew numbers for years - with Unite's agreement.

Unite's chief complaint seems to be that we are "imposing" the changes at Heathrow. The truth is we had been discussing them with the union for nine months but, despite all the evidence of the company's (and the industry's) financial plight, Unite would not be realistic about the clear imperative to reduce costs.

We could not wait any longer. We moved ahead, making sure that our changes were squarely based on voluntary choices for individuals.

Unite claims the changes affect contractual terms and conditions. We believe they do not. The union failed to gain an injunction to prevent their introduction, but a full court hearing to settle the contractual question has been set for February 2010.

We do not understand why Unite is threatening you with disrupted travel plans now over an issue that the courts are preparing to resolve in a few weeks.

A strike can achieve nothing except huge upset and inconvenience for you. We will do our best to provide as much help and support as we can.


Willie Walsh



Last Updated: 15:22 - 14 December 2009

Finnair anyone? CX depends too much on BA as a feeder airline/codeshare partner, they should really take into consideration cooperating with Malev, Iberia or Finnair.

Wow, I have to agree with his points, especially on pay. HK$27000/month (after exchanged back to HKD, per month), is not small, infact CX junior crew get paid around HK$11000/month (though cost of living in UK is higher).

Because CX doesn't fly to HEL and people would prefer transitting once (even at LHR) instead of twice. The fact that CX has 4 flights to London a day also helps.

The strike is going to affect a lot of students as they finish their holidays and return to the UK. I wonder if CX is going to add charter flights to LHR, like what they did when Oasis went bust in April last year.

What does 'too much' mean? Are you going to make the same claim for AA ex-LAX or -NYC?

Fact is, London is a major destination / hub for CX pax, so it would be foolish for CX to pretend that it doesn't have a OW partner at that hub. Unless you're suggesting that CX configure processes based on infrequent occurrences (e.g., partner labor actions)?

the only way for CX to get insulated from BA troubles is to open more direct routes to second tier european cities or get a secondary European hub in which to serve said cities, and get connections there either by themselves or by IB and AY. Cities to consider may be ZRH, MUC, BRU or perhaps AMS. KA should also help for some routes. Only difficulty in my opinion is that in some places incumbents (AF, LH comes quickly to mind) will surely object to a direct competitor opening routes.

Hard to say - This is peak season. I doubt if CX can spare crew or equipment.

I just hope CX re-opens ZRH...it's such a pain currently. Not sure if I'm a minority or not on this board thinking ZRH would be an outstanding destination to re-open, but as someone involved in finance I find it a pain to transit LHR (if I want to be loyal to CX, or avoid the direct-service on Swiss due to that slanted flat thing in J, which I don't find nearly as comfortable as CX's or BA's J). I can't speak for Swiss's F class.

You're not alone. I believe there is potential to re-introduce flights to this port. If they can make non-OW hub such as AMS work and think MXP would be a good fit in a soon to be service, ZRH can work even with say a 3x weekly service.

But even without having flown to ZRH for more than 8 years, the destination is still mentioned in their A340-300 description. Their IT personel have some serious brain malfunctioning.

I'd like this thread to contain experiences of anyone's dealings with CX regarding connecting flights on BA where the ticket is one itinerary and sold by CX.

Isn't AY launching 2nd-daily HKG soon?

I'm not trying to suggest moving ALL European codeshares to other OW partners, just some destinations as an alternative and for some flexibility for pax. BA is basically the only codeshare partner of CX in inter-Europe (correct me if i'm wrong), so in case of anything happening with BA, everything goes down (apparent in this situation). Plus, T3-T5 LHR transit isn't too good if you ask me though HEL also has its problems (though it's usually "the fastest way between Asia and Europe"). AA is an exception since it's the only North American-based OW member, in Europe there are a few.
There's also a good East European network with MA, which HKG is lacking even with CX codeshares w/ BA. Fares are never lower than HK$7000.

The late night LHR - HKG departures must be severely overbooked over the next few weeks either way?

tried unsuccessfully to redeem an economy class ticket HKG-LHR-VCE on 23.12 for wife the past 15 days. Yesterday TA informed that there's actually no hope of getting LHR/LGW to VCE connection, therefore I had to switch to FCO.

What I don't get in your suggestion is the business case. How much business is there through BUD vs. LHR from HKG? Sure, BA strikes like this one have severe repercussions. But you also have to weight those events with their probabilities.

If there were such a business case for diverting volume from London, why do you think CX hasn't already acted on the opportunity?

Have you travelled through BUD as a transit passenger or with BUD as your ultimate destination, particularly during the winter months?

There certainly is a case for diversification -- see the discussion above about ZRH. But using MA as that option, for example, doesn't jump out at me. Do you have further information about HKG-Eastern Europe volume, since you cite MA's Eastern European network as a plus?

You are kidding are you not ? have you flown these airlines ? they are really awful and Iberia has to be one of the worst airlines on the ground and in the air I have ever had the misfortune to fly with