The Aloha airlines 737-200 that suffered a massive decompression when its roof was ripped off, had over 89,000 cycles on the clock, well past its design limit of 75,000 cycles

Just did a quick search….

G-MONB as of 31/12/2005 had 77319 hours on the clock

G-MONC as of 31/12/2004 had 70704 hours on the clock

G-MOND as 31/12/2004 had 71713 hours on the clock.

The only other 757’s in the same age range are the ex BA, now with DHL, and all have roughly half the hours of those Monarch planes above

i like this cartoon found in todays Daily Telegraph!!

Was also highlighted in many news programmes yesterday, that the deputy leader of the T&G? said he had never been in talks which such an agressive employer… i guess Willie Walsh (former shop steward himself) and his team are playing hardball, and not willing to roll over and have there collective bellies tickled by the unions.

But Walsh is unusually qualified to face down BA’s enemy within: the trade unions – led by the T&G at Heathrow – which make it so tough for BA to keep its cost-base competitive. Walsh is a classic poacher-turned-gamekeeper: a former shop steward turned formidable union-basher. In his previous job at Aer Lingus – almost bankrupt when he took charge in 2001 – Walsh fired 2,000 people and sold the art collection for good measure. He turned the airline’s fortunes around but was hated by SIPTU, the largest Irish union, and fell out with prime minister Bertie Ahern over a buy-out plan which would have made Walsh a fortune of his own.

Yet Walsh’s corporate biography – cadet pilot at 17, into management at 27 – omits the most interesting fact about him: that in his flying days he was also chief negotiator for the Irish Airline Pilots Association. Like another former pilots’ union official, the arch-Thatcherite former minister Norman Tebbit, he took an early decision to move to the other side of the table. Knowing your opponents’ mind is a key advantage in any confrontation. Willie Walsh is a man to watch

It is all very interesting but I have been watching BASSA / T&G and this is basically an attempted mugging that they now realise has gone t**ts up and are desparate to find a way out of. They were asking for guarantees on discounted incidences of sickness – i.e. irrespective of an individual’s sickness record. Presumably a negotiating line but one they must have been confident would end up working in the favour opf the most frequent who are taking liberties. Despite WW accepting their most recent wording they have backtracked since Dromey was made to sound stupid on BBC R4 “Today” Programme. It is not a question of disputing whether or not someone is fit to fly (or do any other work for that matter) if they say they are not. What is more to the point is challenging why some people have greater incidences of illnesses (especially discountable ones) than colleagues or similar folk in similar jobs in the industry. What is it about their lifestyle or physiology that makes this happen – can that be changed / improved or (in the final analysis) is this the sort of work they should be doing?

According to various sources…

1.BMi are getting 4 new EMB145’s
2. LHR-Aberdeen is going EMB145
3. Airbuses released from the Heathrow ops by the ERJ will displace A321s slowly being phased out. Plus one A320 operating a full-week charter programme from Leeds this summer for MyTravel
4. The A330, that had the MLG problem has gone or is going to Virgin Nigeria until May 2007, when it will be replaced by 2 767-300s that Astraeus will fly for VN. When the A330 comes back, it will replace the Arkefly 767-300, so will most presumably go on to the LHR-Saudi route

But it seems that the cabin crew at LGW are not in support of there collegues at LHR

Taken from PPrune..

I just wish some over paid crew would take a few minutes out to see how good they’ve got it. Seriously, you have. Most other airlines do not have such a thing as crew rest. I’ve been on a flight where the crew have walked through the cabin in shirt, tie and pyjama bottoms!!!! How professional! I’m not based at the golden runways, but I’m allegedly working for the same company. At LGW we get told every day by pax how friendly and chatty etc we are. Lots of pax prefer flying from LGW because it’s less hassle, fewer delays and we’re professional. So, what’s my rant about? Well, all the issues bassa has decided to ballot about, we already deal with at LGW. We work 3 crew on the 737. We have one CM and one Purser on the 777 whether it’s 3 class or 4 class. We’re on hourly pay (and survive!). The difference is that I and a majority of my colleagues at LGW are fed up with being sold down the river by our so-called colleagues at LHR for years but they expect us to stand up for them and strike. It winds me up. I’d be happy to vote for a strike if the issues actually affect me, but they don’t (apart from the little breakfast allowance that was added at the end of the form as we were kicking off about it). I don’t want to lose my job. I don’t want to have to look for another job. I know I’m not the best paid in the company or indeed the world, but I’m a hell of a lot better paid than a lot of other people. I’m not starving to death and I can still afford a glass of wine when I want. It’s called living within your means without being greedy. Sorry for the rant, had to get it out of my system…

And cabin crew who worked for BA, now with other airlines think that they don’t live in the real world

Again taken from Pprune

I must admit I had trouble understanding the scenes of unbridled joy at the CC meeting when the cameras picked up the announcement of the pro-strike vote! I would say a very high proportion of them will ‘chicken out’ when it goes nuclear.
“Certainly in my experience, where an employer pays low wages and expects alot, the employees tend to be less committed.” Disagree!
After a career in BA and now an independant, I have to say I am stunned at how hard working and dedicated they are in independantland. I have never seen BA crews work like I have seen amongst independants outside. Dare one say far more commitment too? The astonishing saga of 75 minutes bunk rest on a LHR-CAI followed by a 24 hour slip? How about LTN- Egypt or Israel-back to LTN then taxi to LGW. 3 cabin crew 737, full meal service both ways. I’m afraid the reality of life outside hasn’t sunk into BA yet! I hope they see sense, but they will get broken if they go ahead- the costs disparity is ginormous.

I think the most frightning thing at the moment is, while Bliar is on his happy holidays with the witch and his kids……. John Prescott is in charge of the country!!!!:eek: