British Airways check-in staff at Heathrow vote for strike action – other groups set to follow

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• Yona says:

  24 Jun24 June 01:26

  I knew a guy in middle management at IAG. One of his perks was a £500,000 yearly allowance on BA and IB flights in addition to Gold membership, hotel and car rental upgrades and others.

  His job was to make decisions such as cutting salaries or making sure crews on old contract would resign so they could hire new people under worse contracts.

  This strike does not surprises me at all.

  • Jonathan says:

    24 Jun24 June 01:32

    I think what is depressing these days is that if you scroll on TikTok there are numerous cabin crew celebrating their dream job and videoing their flights. They seem barely out of their teens. They don’t understand contracts and have just taken the job for the glamour. As long as there is a supply of teenagers willing to do this then how are staff going to be fairly treated and paid?

    • Scott says:

      24 Jun24 June 06:52

      A lot of these younger ones live at home, so have no real outgoings.
      Easy to live with Mother and get £15-18k? a year, and hopefully spend a few days sunning themselves by the pool in Dubai, Cape Town etc. on their rostered flights.

      Different kettle of fish if you had say London rents to pay.

      I know a couple who became cabin crew recently.
      One was a head teacher earning good money, but she fancied a change and became a check-in agent / Team Leader. Then left and has recently became Virgin cabin crew.
      Another was a check-in agent for a few years, went into nursing, and now is cabin crew for Tui.
      First is in her 50s, second late twenties. Not just about the money to either of them.

      • Rob says:

        24 Jun24 June 08:55

        No problem with taking a job for fun rather than cash – it’s the basis on which I started HfP – but no-one ever asked me to get up at 2am for a 4am sign in for a 6.30am start …..

    • Njb says:

      24 Jun24 June 07:31

      As a more mature starter the take home cabin crew pay will be a bit under £2000 a month with allowances – add that to my pension and I will be doing fine, getting to see the world in a job that I have always wanted to do. Likewise for younger staff living at home the pay is acceptable.
      Many older entrants joining. After a long career in education I will not miss the stresses and strains of senior leadership and will relish a job where I can actually be off duty.

      • Rob says:

        24 Jun24 June 08:52

        Stories of large scale resignations at Gatwick in recent weeks over at PPrune (a crew blog) as the realities of the poor money and painful rostering finally kick in.

      • AJA says:

        24 Jun24 June 09:01

        I applaud you @Njb I hope you enjoy it and that you get to see many places around the world. Hopefully there are more like you to counteract the rather negative views (however true they may be) being written by Rob

        • njb says:

          24 Jun24 June 10:15

          njb is a 59 year old young at heart wife, mortgage free with a retired husband – who is not wearing rose tinted glasses about what I am letting myself in for – family members have been old WW crew and friends still fly as crew after 30 years – ex WW who took the new contracts.
          LGW is a worse contract but people are taking it due to location and no short haul routes from what I see.
          I start end Sept. I might hate it – but I don’t know till I try – and then I can leave if I do.
          Pay is not an issue for me, nor job security. Rostering will improve as crew capacity increases.
          However I do wonder about retention of all these new crew – many seem to be starting commuting from over 4 hours away or relocating to nearer the airport and renting. The salary will not got far with such additional costs. Some have just finished A levels and may not be prepared for the isolation of a crew life – never the same crew twice.
          Maybe I should start a blog of my cabin crew journey !

        • Rob says:

          24 Jun24 June 10:50

          You fill the job, but you fill it with someone like (let’s be honest) what my daughter will be like in 10 years – someone with well-off parents who own spacious Central London property and, instead of asking for rent, bung them a couple of £k per month on top of their salary to keep them ticking over.

          Bully for her. Bit of a bugger if you live in Wakefield, are talented and are desperate to build a marketing career in London. This is the bigger problem.

          Do you reckon it would be difficult to find someone who would do Rhys’s job for free? I’d be overrun with applications from ‘well to do’ new graduates living at home in London who can’t find a job and fancy a year or so of running around the world in style whilst making some great contacts, whilst Mummy and Daddy prop them up.

        • njb says:

          24 Jun24 June 11:20

          my career as been mainly spent in education and LA SEND – no wonder there is a recruitment crisis here – under £30k starting salary for a teacher, under £30K working for an LA assessing/writing EHCP plans. £27K flying the world doesn’t sound too bad if you are in your early twenties- no responsibilities once the work day is done.

        • Brian says:

          24 Jun24 June 11:37

          “I’d be overrun with applications from ‘well to do’ new graduates living at home in London who can’t find a job”

          I don’t know what what it’s like for graduates specifically but are there many young office types in London who can’t find a find? Everyone I know is easily finding new jobs if they want to move (the easiest it’s been for years and years)

• Paul says:

  24 Jun24 June 07:14

  About time the word “British” and the flag were removed from BA.

  • AJA says:

    24 Jun24 June 07:27

    What would you suggest in replacement?

    • Steve R says:

      24 Jun24 June 08:14

      London or South East Airways that is their customer base

      • AJA says:

        24 Jun24 June 09:11

        That’s because two of the biggest airports in the UK are in the southeast and relatively close to London. As an airline business I’d say it makes sense to operate from LHR and LGW. The days of the likes of BMI being relatively successful being based at EMA are long gone, as is that airline.

        You could always exercise your freedom of movement around the UK and move to the southeast, if not London, to take advantage of the fact that BA is based at LHR, LCY and LGW.

        By the way of comparison how many flights do Virgin operate out of regional UK airports compared to their bases at LHR and LGW? Never understood this animosity towards BA while it is an accusation never levelled at Virgin.

    • paul says:

      24 Jun24 June 15:49

      I’m not bothered what else they’re called – but they ARE viewed abroad as OUR National Airline and that is an embarrassment.

      It’s bad enough our PM is an incompetent joke to the World; do we need to add to it.

• Anthony Heather says:

  24 Jun24 June 07:43

  I’m totally with the staff, as much as it will affect my travel. Did all senior staff take 10%?

• P Rya says:

  24 Jun24 June 07:55

  If you hold a reward flight for the summer and find yourself effected what are your options and rights? Do BA have to find me another flight with another airline? Also what happens to connecting flights not on the same ticket?

  • Rhys says:

    24 Jun24 June 08:22

    Same rights as any other passenger

    • dominic says:

      28 Jun28 June 21:52

      I’ve booked some reward flights for July . Just before the 2 year voucher expiry. If the flights get cancelled and I can’t rebook before they expire do I lose the vouchers?

      • dominic says:

        28 Jun28 June 23:32

        I meant to say I had booked flights to Chicago and New York using 2 for 1 vouchers.

  • AJA says:

    24 Jun24 June 09:15

    A connecting flight not on the same booking reference is technically not a connecting flight, it is a separate booking. Therefore if you are unable to fly on the BA flight and miss the separately booked flight you will have no claim against BA for the cost of missing the separate flight. You might be able to claim off insurance.

• Joanne Savidge says:

  24 Jun24 June 08:05

  It seems only fair that BA staff pay returns to pre Pandemic level. Unfortunately it will impact many who have waited a couple of years for their summer break, as we have. When we booked our trip to New York for the first weekend of the school holidays last year, flying from Gatwick (which would have been our preference) wasn’t an option. I imagine there are many people in this boat to. Suggesting this only helps those looking to book last minute. Meanwhile the rest of us can only wait for the dates to be announced and hope we aren’t affected although as with the rail strokes there will knock on effects.

• Simon says:

  24 Jun24 June 09:39

  Was feeling safe and smug when this was announced yesterday, knowing that my July FAO trip was from Gatters. 10 minutes later I get a cancellation email, and am now on a BA / Finnair flight from T3.
  Presumably the Finnair flights use BA check in facilities so we would be impacted by any strike?

  • ChrisC says:

    24 Jun24 June 19:43

    Why do you presume AY use BA staff?

    As far as I’m aware AY employ their own staff either directly but more likely via a ground handling company.

    Just as AA and IB employ their own staff in T5.

    • Rob says:

      24 Jun24 June 20:00

      It’s a wet lease – BA has borrowed Finnair aircraft and crew to fly to non-Finland destinations. Finnair is a little top heavy with aircraft at the moment given the Russian airspace flight ban. Check in staff will definitely be BA.

• JandeW says:

  24 Jun24 June 09:54

  This is BA at its most despicable and Gallego’s
  excessive pay package only rubs salt in the wounds of staff. One can only sympathise with the staff. Time to suck it up, BA.

• Rob Collins says:

  24 Jun24 June 11:49

  A friend of mine who worked as part of the Cabin Crew for BA, left during the ‘fire and rehire’ exercise. He’s now much happier, doing a better paid job with less travel to work and a much more understanding employer.

  The fact that his improved job is working in an Amazon warehouse says it all…

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