BA Crew on strike

to be air hostess is the ambition of many.
This article is selected as it has great implication to the air hostess of British Airway. I had been promoting, the career as the career of choice. However glancing through the many comments made by the passengers, they were expressing their frustration and anger. The truth was easily hidden beneath the actions. What were actual reasons, are of little interest to the mass. They are concerned with what appeared to be the cause of the misery......the cabin crews.

It was reported by Telegraph.co in UK on the BA crew's stike. The 12 days strike during the Christmas holiday was expected to affect over 1 millions of the travelling public.

By David Millward and Harry WallopPublished: 12:11AM GMT 15 Dec 2009
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British Airways Air Hostess (Cabin Crew) arrive at Sandown Park Racecourse for a Unite union meeting to discuss a postal ballot on whether to strike at Christmas Photo: GETTY
The airline's 13,500 cabin crew - who overwhelmingly backed the strike call - will stop work next Tuesday and remain off until January 2.

The strike is likely to ground almost all of BA's fleet, ruining the pre-booked holidays and family reunions of the estimated one million people scheduled to fly BA this Christmas.

It will cause chaos at airports at one of the busiest times of the year - when the airline normally operates 650 flights and carries 90,000 passengers a day - and risks doing enormous damage to the beleagured company's business.
The vast majority of BA flights are likely simply to be cancelled - with passengers facing a fight to make alternative travel arrangements in time.

British Airways said it would offer customers a full refund, or the opportunity to travel at a later date.
It will not, however, offer to pay for passengers to travel on another carrier. And compensation will only be paid after it has been confirmed the flight has been cancelled - something that could be decided at a few days' notice.

The strike was last night described as "terrible, terrible news for passengers" by Rochelle Turner, the head of research at the watchdog Which? Travel.
"Hundreds of thousands of people who want to see their loved ones at Christmas are being held hostage by BA," she said.
"And this is something passengers will remember for years to come."
BA passengers who have already booked hotels or other accomodation for their Christmas holiday face a further headache. The cost of these are only likely to be covered by their travel insurance policy if they booked their holiday before November 2 - the date when the strike ballot was first announced.
This means that passengers who want to save their Christmas holidays now face a frantic scramble for seats on other airlines.
Given demand for air travel over the festive season is so high, these are likely to be in short supply - with prices considerably higher than those they originally paid.
BA managers have made little secret of the fact that they regard the strike threat as suicidal, fearing that passengers who are lost to other carriers may not return. Within an hour of the strike vote being announced, easyJet made a pitch for BA passengers, saying it still had some space available on its network of 485 routes.
The dispute - which would be the first walk out by BA air hostess (cabin crew) in 12 years - centres on a row over changes to working conditions, prompted by the airline's need to slash costs. These include a cut in the number of staff on board each flight, a freeze on pay and less favourable contracts for new staff.
Airline bosses believe the cuts are essential and highlight the fact that cabin service directors at BA already earn £56,000-a-year long haul and £52,000 short haul - the highest pay for those jobs in Britain. The majority of its staff earn twice as much as their rivals at Virgin Atlantic.
If the strike does go ahead, the long-term damage to the airline's reputation will be incalculable.
Earlier this year, BA reported annual losses of £401 million. Even without the strike – and the cost of paying out refunds to all the affected passengers – it is on course to double this figure over the next 12 months. Analysts estimated that the strike could cost BA about £10 million a day.
The scale of the industrial action has also left BA with a significant logistical problem as it tries to placate angry customers and, where possible, save their holidays.
Passengers are being urged to ensure the airline has their correct contact details so that it can text, email or telephone those whose flights have been cancelled or changed.
"It's a logistical nightmare," said one BA insider.
James Fremantle, a spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council added: "This is the last thing British Airways need, it is the last thing passengers need. There is no doubt that they will choose other airlines."

The strike call was endorsed by 92.5 per cent of those who took part in a ballot of BA's 13,500 cabin crew, who are members of the trade union Unite. Eight out of ten crew voted, making it one of the most decisive calls for industrial action in recent years.

It is the second wave of industrial action to afflict a major British company recently, following a series of walk outs at the Royal Mail, and raises the prospect of a new winter of discontent as workers battle against pay cuts.
Unite's vote is likely to trigger days of frantic negotiation, as each side blamed the other for the impasse. Last night, the airline's management angrily condemned the walkout by cabin crew.
The company, in a statement, said: "A 12-day strike would be completely unjustified and a huge overreaction to the modest changes we have announced for cabin crew which are intended to help us recover from record financial losses.

"Unite’s cynical decision betrays a total lack of concern for our customers, our business and other employees within British Airways."

Len McCluskey, the union's assistant general secretary, said Unite was taking the industrial action with a "heavy heart", adding that air hostess (cabin crew) felt a deep sense of injustice because BA management has imposed changes to their working conditions which are unacceptable.
"Even at this late hour we are hoping that the force of the vote of our members will make British Airways step back," he said.
According to its chief executive, Willie Walsh, BA is facing a "fight for survival" and he rounded on the union last night. "What you have seen is cynical action on the part of the union to cause massive disruption to potentially a million British Airways passengers.

"I genuinely think think this is an over-reaction by any standards. It is clearly very damaging to BA, it doesn't address the fact that BA is a company under pressure, which must take action to return to profitability for the thousands of people who work for it."
Earlier in the year BA pleaded with staff to work for nothing, take unpaid leave or cut their hours. It is now looking for further efficiency savings, including cutting the number of cabin crew on a flight by one. The union said that on some flights, the reduction in crew could be as many as three.

According to BA, its cabin crew earn twice as much as their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic and also enjoy generous allowances on top of their salary.
For example, a crew member flying to Tokyo for a four-day trip would receive allowances of £935 in addition to both salary and hotel costs.

BA says when allowances are taken into account a Cabin Service Director, the most senior member of crew and responsible for managing passenger service on a long haul flight, earns an average of £56,325 a year. A purser, a more junior role, earns an average of £49,810 while the figure for ordinary crew is around £32,980.

Bob Atkinson, from travelsupermarket.com said: "This is a double disaster for BA. Its customers are now going to be significantly affected and the airline will take a financial hit from the action. It's an incredibly sad day for the BA brand. It's 12 years since BA staff members have taken direct action and, while they may believe they have a strong case in their disagreement with BA management, the real losers here are the everyday leisure and business customers who will have their Christmas and new year plans disrupted.
intending to assist those who want to be air hostess