BA's new fleet is already falling apart. They cannot recruit enough people because the rate is too low, and those who start are leaving because they can't afford to live on £11,000 plus £2,40 an hour. Walsh sold the idea to a gullible board, along with crushing the cabin crew union, and look where that's got him, a year on. And the Iberia merger will come back to bite him when it falls apart through incompatible cultures and restive unions. And why employ a man with no CEO success, who made a mess of Air Lingus. Sometimes you wonder who about Boards.
They are symptoms of a corporate incoherence that will ruin this airline. And I'll tell you why. The new uniforms are for the new low cost, low spec crew to make them feel good about only getting £11,000 a year plus £2.60 an hour. This together with driving down standards across the board, is at odds with charging premium prices. It beats me how the city has fallen for Walsh's idea of creating a low cost airline and charging premium prices. It's a model that will not work. You either have to be a low cost Ryan Air, or a premium Emirates. No one in the middle ever survives. And of course once this is an airline wreck, Walsh will be long gone with his bonus.
What I should have said is that WW hasn't lost his bonus but doubled it. The remuneration committee say he will get double if he resolves the strike. Which of course he must in the end. So isn't that a clever thing: create a problem, then get your mates to pay you to clear it up. Please JJ26 say you're not fooled by all this? ( By the way I see I put 'a ex pilot, which of course should be 'an ex pilot, Glasshouses and stones come to mind!)
So, dear Willie gives up his bonus - poor diddums! Wise up. Even a ex pilot like him wouldn't be so crass as to rob the coffers after losing millions on a strike he caused in the first place. And what's a few grand when you plan to pocked millions - then run from the plane wreck. And JJ25, best keep quiet about the share price because it's just a bit of profit taking. Look at the trends. BA shares have fallen 64% since WW took over, whilst the FTSE is down 21% over the same period. And he's only paid out 5p in all that time. He screwed up Air Lingus and now he'll screw up BA and that is disgraceful. He talked himself into the job by saying he could break the unions, and he may or may not, but meanwhile he's driving down standards for quick buck taking whilst driving away premium passengers. He'll leave BA in a no-man's land between low cost carriers who know what they are doing, and premium carriers like Singapore who know how to treat a premium paying passenger, as BA used to do until WW got his hands on the brand and his snout in the trough. (Note, it's 'You're Wrong', not 'Your Wrong')
I agree, Wilfie. Also, I just heard he's now seconding ground staff as cabin crew in a plot to out-source ground duties. That's going to cause another rumpus. Rumour has it he is driving down the cost base and price ready for an MBO. He failed at this with Air Lingus and he'll fail with BA, and bust the brand in the meantime. Either the board is complicit, or dumb. BA has been the proud flag carrier for Britain and for Walsh to bust it is disgraceful.
Win for him; wreck for BA. Read this extract from an open letter posted by BA shareholder and financier Mamad Kashani Akhavan 'Since his appointment as BA’s CEO, Mr Walsh has continually reduced the level of service that BA offers to its business and first class passengers. He has also failed to adequately modernise existing planes or purchase enough new planes to keep up with his competition. This has resulted in a loss of a great number of BA’s premium passengers to competitors such as middle eastern and far eastern airlines. It is undeniable that BA is losing many of its business passengers not because of the recession but as a direct result of its management’s bad decisions. Mr Walsh’s management style is simple: it is either his way or the highway. Since his appointment, he has not only continually ignored the advise of many of BA’s highly experienced employees but also the wishes of his own passengers. He wrongly believes that he knows more than everyone else and has no interest in receiving feedback from employees or passengers. In his delusional vision for BA, everything should be inferior and low cost including the quality of its cabin crew. Ironically, he actually expects - with this absurd vision - to charge and receive higher fares from his business and first class passengers than any other airline. As a result of his wrong decision making, BA has lost a billion pounds in two years; ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Kind regards Mamad Kashani Akhavan
We've all seen guys like Walsh drive a premium brand down into the swamp for a quick profit boost and bonus. It won't work. People pay a premium to fly BA because they get a premium service. Down in the low cost swamp he'll be scratching for dimes not dollars, like all the others. Many say he has no record of success for a job this big, and was NOT invited to the post but talked himself into it with the promise of breaking the unions. So far its just another costly move of many, like the price fixing fiasco, fuel hedging, and others I could mention. But do you want me to go on. You think he will come out of it a shining knight. I think he will leave behind a busted brand - known forever as Brutish Airways.
Do you really wish willie walsh well with what he's doing as BA. ? Check out the Wikipedia entry for him: 'The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern subsequently described Walsh's offer of an MBO as "a time when management wanted to steal the assets for themselves through a management buy out, shafting staff interests." '