Tuesday 15 December 2009

Can BA Survive??


Huge amounts of media coverage of the "12 days of Christmas Strike by BA cabin crew".

Its on TV , in papers and huge amounts of conflict.

See here

Wille Walsh threatens legal action ..........see here

Multiple news reports about union negotiations, 9 months in the offing, pilots pay cuts, terms and conditions..........basically lots of you said this, no you said that.


Whether Unite and its 13,500 cabin crew have pressed their own nuclear button will become clear within a few weeks.

At the very least BA and its staff are staring into the abyss. A 12 day strike will cause irreparable damage to the airline's reputation and lost passengers may never return.

Neither side comes out of this well. Willie Walsh does not seem to have appreciated the seething resentment of his staff. His belligerence towards union leaders who were desperate to avoid holding a strike ballot exacerbated the situation.

But the unions should remember that in the current climate no airline is safe, not even major flag carriers.

Nobody thought Sabena and Swissair would disappear, they did. The same could happen to BA.

But looking at BA.........do we want to keep it???

I mean I fly a lot and will basically fly anyone before I fly BA.........with the exception of O'leary and his shitty Ryan Air despite the ticket price.

But looking at its finances............last year the airline lost £400M.........that was a net operating loss.
This year it is on target for twice that..........an £800M loss.

So in 2 years we have a £1.2 Billion loss.

Are we the tax payer at some point expected to cover this cost?
We cant afford it.

Just let it go i'd say.................you can not make a silk purse from a sow's ear!!!!

3 comments:

Quiet_Man said...

You're right, we can't afford it and if BA do go under it will be the unions at fault, not the company or directors.

Anonymous said...

I agree. It's without doubt the worst airline I've ever flown, and I wouldn't ever use it again. The staff are second rate, impolite in many cases. Compared with Emirates it's on another planet.

I trust we will not have to bail it out; isn't it privately owned?

I have to disagree QM. It will be the fault of both. The management are equally crap. They couldn't manage a tea party.

The Last Of The Few said...

QM,

Willie Walsh has missed a trick here. He should have acted earlier and with more vigour.
He is fighting the strike by using public opinion.

The thing is it seems like Tris comments the public are not happy with BA and have been pee'd off for a while.
I dont think many will loose sleep if it went under.

Iberia is quite happy to sit and watch a pick up the route.
Bransom mustbe laughing his ass off.

But I agree with your unions comments. The Unite guy was on TV this am............what atypical odeous turd. And lets be honest.00M loss means you have to change.
You have to make a cut to the cloth. ......70's strike tactics will fail.
The public will leave in their droves.

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