Strike-a-rama

Verity

The nastiest airline in the world. I wouldn't contribute a penny to their coffers.

The best airline in the world is Singapore Airlines (SQ). Too bad you can't fly around Europe on it. Follow-ups for thoroughly nice airlines are (in no particular order) Qantas, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Alia, KLM and Garuda.

I never flew on Aeroflot in the old USSR days, but BA strikes me as a doppelganger.

Sir Graphus

It's almost as if the Unions want a Tory govt.

oldtimer

Iain Dale has a good image of Gordon Brown between two boxing gloves and the strapline "Labour`s double whammy". One glove is labelled "No Trains", the other "No Planes".

It now remains to be seen how many cabin crew defy the picket lines.

Dungeekin

Sorry, but does nobody else think that there's a strong stench of collusion and conspiracy here?

I am ever more convinced that this strike, spreading as it has to unions across the world, is nothing more than a carefully-contrived publicity stunt to garner support for Brown in the polls.

dungeekin.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-which-dungeekin-dons-tinfoil-hat.html

Or am I just being cynical?

D

toco

The hapless Brown has to accept Charlie Whelan(he of 'Smeargate' renown) and Unite own him left right and centre which given his long and close friendship with Whelan should be interesting.The problem for Brown is if you take money under false pretences beware the consequences.'The Merchant of Venice' springs to mind but in Unite's case the location is somewhat less exotic.

Feste

Sir Graphus - I think Unite, RMT et al really do want a Tory government. Then they can seize control of the Labour party.

charles hercock

OK Brown-Now we have it-Three strikes and you are out(apols to Paul Waugh)

Pete Hoskin

James: thanks for the spot. Fixed now.

Bob Dixon

What odds can I get on Brown not going to the Queen and calling for a General Election this side of Christmas?

wrinkled weasel

HELLO? IS ANYBODY AT THE SPECTATOR ACTUALLY READING THESE POSTS?

Have you read the garbage from "Mark Patrick Norris"? It is not only drivel, it purports to reveal the addresses and telephone numbers of people.

Please tell me somebody at the Speccie actually reads what we post.

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

I cannot find one good word to say for BA. Flying with them was not a happy experience, the overly-painted hostesses (and probably hosts too) being more concerned with selluing alcohol than providing water or other necessities. The meals were disgusting, even for airplane food, and the seating uncomfortable and inadequate for a normal sized adult. I have had friends who worked for this airline and had quite a bumpy ride when they were dumped for financial reasons. B.A thinks it does its passengers a favour carrying them and the introduction of a fee for requesting a window seat or to sit next to one's flying conmpanion is gross. An especially vile case was where a British Christian ground staff member was denied the right to wear her crucifix. Eventually this ruling was dropped, but only after a long period of time had passed, and the poor woman was mocked and derided. The bullies at B.A. would have not behaved in this way to a Moslem woman who demanded to wear a headscarf. Generally I don 't approve of the strike ethos, but in this case I hope it goes on and on until all the passengers desert B.A. and the management are left without any golden handshakes.

Ricky

In the final days of this noxious regime, as the rictus grin of the Brown Stuff lingers on in the Bunker like an awkward Cheshire Cat......the unions and the comrades will be looting the remains of the NuLab dinosaur..... as it stumbles into decline and the jurassic pits of oblivion.

2010 will be a year of strikes.....air traffic controllers, refuse collectors, lorry drivers (over oil prices), social workers, police, railway workers, posties, UNITE workers worldwide and every last old leftie picking over the carcass of yet another post Labour governments economic meltdown.

Keep calm & carry on.

Moraymint

Methinks we all need to get used to strikes from here on in. The public sector will be spending the next 3 years striking over one thing or another, but mainly over losing tens, if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.

It's that, or national bankruptcy.

Gawain

Mr. Norris must be a Unite shop steward. It would certainly explain why the talks have broken down.

I would add Etihad to Verity's list of good airlines. BA might not have plumbed the depths of Aeroflot yet but at least one always had the feeling their aircarft were designed for a specific human function - to carry armed parachutists into battle.

David Blackburn

Wrinkled Weasel,

Thank you for notifying me - I have removed Mark Patrick Norris' gibberish. The comment in question was posted without going through the moderator, which is why we have the 'report this comment' button.

pharbitis

Did we never wonder why union activity has been so muted these past years? An occasional spat but nothing too serious.
Now all becomes clear.
The big unions have amassed massive amounts (partly scammed from the taxpayer via the 'modernisation scheme') to fund extended industrial action which will either exert control over the govt or bring the country to its knees - or both.
I hope the Tories have plans to deal with the chaos later this year if they win the G.E. Or maybe people are so scared of gloves off militant unionism that they will vote Labour as a way of capitulating for a quiet life - as Edward Heath discovered.
Ruined holidays are just the start, I fear.

Charles

Got to say that I disagree with most of the comments here about BA.

I fly 2 or 3 times a week, mainly within Europe, but probably make 15-20 intercontinental trips a year.

BA is always my first choice - far more comfortable that SAS or Lufty. Certainly better than the American carriers on the tranatlantic flights. The food is filthy - but I always make it a rule to eat on the ground - but overall it is very good and the staff extremely courteous and helpful

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

David Blackburn: Well now I know that I haven't got dementia. I seriously thought I'd lost my marbles since I couldn't make sense of that gibberish. I thought either life had thrown another Harold Pinter at us, or I had lost the power of understanding. Thanks, David.

Ke H

BA has now torn up their very good travel perks for staff who strike.That should make them think twice:those perks are extremely generous,and for life. Think I should sign up as cabin crew?

Fragmeister

I kept hearing the strikers on Radio 5 Live saying they didn't want to go on strike. So who is forcing them? They have a choice. They could turn up for work tomorrow. Or am I stupid? (Answers on a postcard to the usual address)

Call me Infidel

I also disagree with Verity in respect to BA. If you think BA is bad you must never have flown with an American airline. I have flown a few times with BA in recent years and it was far better experience than any of the US companies.

Verity

Charles, who flies BA by actual human choice, may have incipient dementia and should be watched closely by his family. Making sudden darting, cringing motions, as though avoiding a blow, should be reported to his doctor.

For within the United States, you can't beat SouthWest Airlines. And if you're going north, Alaska Airlines is a very nice carrier. Well, they're OK, but I love their livery.

Moraymint

BA was great to fly with in the past (dare I say it, when flying was not an airborne form of cattle transportation) - I had one of those Club Card things that allowed one permission to loaf about, drink wine and nibble stuff in BA's fancy lounges.

Nowadays, I can't bear to fly (and me having spent twenty years in the air force and all). The demise of airlines, by the way, is ultimately a leading indicator of oil having peaked. Watch out for many more airlines going to the wall over the next 5 - 10 years. BA knows that fuel ain't going to get any cheaper and simply cannot afford all those highly paid Cabin Service Directors wafting up and down the aisles doing, er, what exactly?

Fony Blair

How about a windfall tax on Unite given all the "income" they've been given as a result of favourable market conditions (Liebour)?

Didn't Liebour introduce a windfall tax early in Blair's premiership?

Verity

Twenty years ago, Southwest, then a newish airline, had self-ticketing if you didn't have luggage. (In those days they just flew between Houston and Dallas - 45 minute flight and it was mainly business people during the week.) You just went to the gate and punched in your flight number and credit card and out came a happy little ticket. That was before the muslim jihadis decided to wreck modern civilisation and convenience for allah.

Because it is based in Dallas and landed at Love Field, they always gave flight information by first saying, "Welcome to your love flight!"

The flight attendants wore short shorts - well, the girls did - and as soon as the flight was airborne, they were round with the (free) drinks trolley. On the start of the descent, they came round holding out big plastic garbage bags and everyone threw their plastic glasses into them. It was just such a fun airline to fly and made standard airlines feel so old-fashioned and stodgy. It was so successful, it expanded to other big Texas cities, then eventually all over the US.

That's what friendliness and customer convenience do for a company.

Alex E

As an American turned Brit, I'm still surprised at the level of vitriol from some on this website and the general populace towards BA, especially as most of it is truly ill-informed. I fly 25-30 times a year (for more years than I care to remember), mostly out of LHR, but Gatwick and Luton too, and having tried all the rest, I keep coming back to BA. They are now nearly always the most competitive (I fly economy as part of corporate policy), have the right routes, acceptably comfortable seating, very average food, depart and arrive nearly always as described, coupled with (mostly) courteous service along with a pretty efficient terminal (a bit of a hanger, T5, but efficient).
For better or for worse (yes, the food...), it generally is always my first choice – primarily also because it is the British airline. You can try and say that about Virgin and BM, but they don't have the network, and especially not the service nor true courtesy, that BA generally offer. Don’t even try to bring Ryanair or Easy into this category. They simply won’t pay for the quality of staff that BA mostly have. It surprises me that Unite don’t seem to be protecting the staff of these airlines, or is it because their staff are hired on lousy contracts in the first place?
Unfortunately though, between Ryanair and Easyjet's growth and Unite's apparently militant and truly poor representation of their members, BA has been pushed into a corner. It is clearly evident that the best paid airline staff in the industry (BA) have got to make some concessions. For those who would like to see BA fail and lose customers, I would recommend Ryanair or Easyjet, or even move to America where air transport is generally equivalent to Aeroflot and Alitalia's offerings.
You can say all you want about BA, but please at least have some reasonable experience of other comparable airline. BA are the safest, most professional and courteous airline for travel to Europe and the US. Full stop.

Hysteria

Virgin long haul beats BA long haul into a cocked-hat. But yes - BA is not as bad as the cynics here represent.

Verity - Alaska has nice livery indeed - and at the low-cost end Jet Blue is pretty good. But the major carriers are awful.

Moraymint

Alex E
March 19th, 2010 9:10pm

Yes, despite my earlier comment, I wasn't actually knocking BA as such, but more the flying industry generally. Albeit, my guess is that the BA cabin services costs could be trimmed.

I agree that BA is a wholly decent flying experience. I have flown transatlantic with various American carriers and the experience is pretty grim, by and large and by comparison.

My fear, however, is that BA will have to work hard to survive this internal crisis. The airline industry is in decline now, courtesy of peak oil (ask Sir Richard Branson all about this). Things can only get more competitive for airlines (to understate the challenge), and the sooner BA's employees realise this, the better.

My money is on BA mangement winning this one: they have the cash reserves; and if they acquiesce to the union dolts the company will go under.

Verity

Hey, Hysteria! Welcome back, Dude!

Never heard of Jet Blue (or Blue Jet - you can't switch back and forth to check on things on this Heath Robinson site) so it must have come in since I left.

TGF UKIP

Don't be too hasty folks in assuming this might be a death blow for Brown. Remember, there is a follow up strike to come so more than an outside chance for Brown to assume the role of honest broker amid a return to beer and sandwiches at No 10. This is especially so given the nature of his relationship with the union concerned and that BA cannot afford to alienate any British government especially one that may soon be re-elected due to the incompetence of its Opposition.

Ironically, this Brown intervention will become more likely if the strike tomorrow is undermined by some cabin crew turning up for work. If they do, Unite will have every incentive to sue for peace and will be only too happy to put Gordon further in their debt by handing him the role of obtaining their surrender.

Alex E

Moray,
BA cabin srvcs costs do indeed have to be trimmed, along with costs across the airline. Willy Walsh doesn't seem an unreasonable man, and he has a gargantuan task ahead of him. He is making BA competitive, and they are on many routes cheaper than the budget airlines when one compares like-for-like, but where they cannot be competitive is in their pension deficit. BA has to fund all those who built this airline and have pensions depending on BA's survival. I don't think UNITE management even give two hoots about that deficit, but it must be paid. And that can only happen if BA survives and becomes profitable again.

Something's gotta give, and frankly it's cabin crew. Let's face it, they have pretty generous benefits, and if they truly love their airline, they'll wake up and smell the coffee and work a little harder just like the rest of us. It's not a requirement to work for BA, it's a choice.

Frankly there is too much short termism in the thinking of most people who should know better.

Hazel Walker

I did fly with Aeroflot in its Soviet heyday. It was grim and nerve wracking at times but at least they never lost my children (and their baggage) and refused to apologise like BA once did.
What goes around....

egh

Jet Blue was an associate of Delta, Verity. Commuter, I think. Anyway - the Delta tag put me off: my experience of individuals behind that overgrown crop-duster is unrepeatable.

BA used to be much better than it is - and no I'm not talking about Flying Boats either. It used to be a proud sight when the golden Speedbird winged in over the palm trees though; when the VC-10s sleeked their way through the Africa, or the 707's roared their way to a stop past lesser species at euro hubs like FCO. And there was something very special about Concorde, sitting in state at its MIA gate.

I remember when BA made cabin crew employment into a 'closed shop.' I think only a handful opposed the move, and I suppose it did have some advantages for their hours and therefore for safety considerations.

Then, five years ago or so, I found both ground and cabin crew uncivil and unhelpful; and decided never to use them again. I was under severe pressure and travelling with my dog - they behaved as if I was some idiot who'd never seen an airport before; and they gave me the worst flight ever in my life. If those are the people who are suffering now, then maybe the airline will manage to retain better ones, and will return the professional standard to something like the older one.

It was sad though. I had made my first trip with BOAC as a child - around 1947 - one way and another my attachment had been quite sentimental.

Roue le Jour

I, too, enjoyed Aeroflot in its heyday. Rosa Klebb stewardesses with bulges under their left armpits and "Finish your beetroot, comrade." It were brilliant. The whole experience was like a Communist theme park.

Any middle eastern airline (ex. El Al) is the way to go. They don't report your movements to the CIA, let you use real cutlery, have minimal security and still let you smoke in the terminal.

Verity

Call Me Infidel addresses me: "If you think BA is bad you must never have flown with an American airline."

How do Delta, Continental,United, American, Pan Am, Southwest and Alaska grab you? Enough experience to make a judgement about BA? Pan Am went out of business and deservedly so, but I don't think it was much worse than BA.

Agree with the above about Middle Eastern Airlines. Alia (Jordan), Emirates and Syrian Arab are all customer-oriented.

In Asia, SQ and Cathay Pacific are outstanding. Many people praise Thai Air, but I can't stand the Thai people - all that smiling! - so always avoided them.

EGH - In Europe, in my opinion, KLM is the tops. They have a free pet hotel for long haul pets with layovers, and - get this - they take the animals out of their cages and give them massages! Isn't that sweet? Your dog would have loved them!

BA deserves to go under.

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

Roue le Jour
March 20th, 2010 2:46am

Any middle-eastern airline (ex. El Al) is the way to go. They don't report your movements to the CIA, let you use real cutlery, have minimal security and still let you smoke in the terminal
--------------------------------------
Can't agree with you. I have flown many times with El Al, and apart from reasonable food, polite service and comfortable seats, I welcome the strict security.
Maybe the other Middle Eastern airlines know that the 'wicked' Israelis won't be suicide bombers raand the muslim travellerse will only board planes with their knickers filled with the usual shite.

Anne Wotana Kaye 1

Apologies for typing errors. I was laughing so much at the thought of that ghastly underwear.

egh

Basically, I now hope I never go near another aeroplane of anyone's!

But yes, Verity; though I neither know nor want to know anything about the euSSR, KLM always were considered good - and I also liked the Far Eastern lines you mention.

I disagree with you only on Delta and Continental; whom I even suspect of working to destroy their major competition: BA. In any case, I think the first utterly vile, and that's based on "things" I wouldn't dream of repeating. I actually liked Continental for a while, though - their cabin service had a touch of the old BOAC about it.

Inbound, nevertheless, they got my goat by welcoming us to euroland every time the wheels touch the UK. Outbound, they began to place all kinds of euros airside (on UK soil, then), some of whom add insult to the injury by behaving like gestapo. One got quite carried away with sniffing my Listerene and checking my luggage for signs of terrorism - and just because I'd flown on BA from Leeds! "Shut Up," he said whenever I opened my mouth. And I'm not even sun-tanned, let alone young and muscular!

Then, last time, the confusion and delay Stateside were awful - they had us all backed up with euro flights, and gave priority to anything from the euSSR, especially brussells.

*************

Meanwhile - back to BA - the crews who are scattered and stranded worldwide get to spend an extra week wherever they are while they wait for the next aircraft through!! That could be quite nice, I believe, especially if it's somewhere like Nandi.

Verity

egh says to me, "disagree with you only on Delta and Continental." No. I didn't give an opinion of Delta or Continental. Someone implied that I hadn't flown on US airlines so shouldn't be criticising BA, so I listed the US airlines I had used. That's all.

egh

Sorry for the misunderstanding, Verity.