Daily View: BA Christmas strike
Commentators are generally not sympathetic towards BA cabin crew who plan to strike over Christmas.
booked a flight with BA: she recalls her many tales of woe flying with BA. Given these, she says she doesn't care about BA strike:
"I don't care whose fault it is any more, whether the chief executive Willie Walsh is a mediocre manager or the unions are deluded; I've had enough of the embarrassment. I just hope BA's name is changed to Iberia when they merge."
flights booked. He calls the action "maddening":
"It can only lead to a decline in bookings for the airline as consumers become increasingly wary of gambling on losing some of their precious holiday time to a strike. How on earth can ruining Christmas for customers ever turn out to be good for longer-term business?"
The this could be the final blow for BA:
"But a company that is bleeding £1.6 million every day cannot afford such a disastrous Christmas. A company that lost over £400 million last year is in no position to weather continually appalling industrial relations."
The that members of the BA crew get paid more than their competitors - something, it says, has to change:
"BA's management has a duty to cut its costs. The company lost £400 million last year and is expected to lose even more this year. To meet this crisis with a strike threat is suicidal."
BA crews are risking not only their jobs but their retirement too:
"If BA were to go to the wall the Pension Protection Fund would only pay out 90pc of the benefits accrued."
Finally the strike action won't help the BA crews in the long term:
"So turkeys really do vote for Christmas."
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