Brussels Airlines : pilots strike looming

[sean1982]

According to Brussels Airlines the strike has cost them "a couple of million EURO".
Well done boys! Dont come and complain about your end of year results!

[werknemer]

and what about Korongo? (still now spending millions)
Air dc?
cam air?
cameroun air?
Rwandair express?
Air senegal?
the towers of technics we can't use?

how many millions?

and for what? what did bru air won? or his employees or his passengers?

[b720]

And the bad publicity, lost opportunities, lost business in near and
Middle tem future, and and.. Adds up.

[shockcooling]

In all this discussion, I would make one remark. Does LH really look at how SN in total is doing for further support or future acquiring? What way do they know how SN management tries to push their pilots in doing such harsh actions as a strike? I can only imagine they got enough information and a very good view on this through our former COO, mr Kranich. As far as I always heard via/via, he was much more taking the side of the pilots view, now his task is not passed on to a new COO, but to someone not chosen by LH. And look where the flight ops management was going without a German anymore standing in their 'team'....

Something else. Some say our passengers are the ones who pay our salaries and we should take care of them very well. What I find funny, is that the tools required for providing the pax this service are our old fleet of aircraft. Why can one fleet which is being leased contain only old junk, while the other fleet of >300 company cars is never older than 4 years? I dont get that...

[Passenger]

... Does LH really look at how SN in total is doing for further support or future acquiring? What way do they know how SN management tries to push their pilots in doing such harsh actions as a strike?

"SN management pushing pilots into a strike": allow me to say that I think that you've attended too many union meetings.

...
Some say our passengers are the ones who pay our salaries and we should take care of them very well...

"Some say" : does this mean that you disagree that the money from which your salary is paid comes from what passengers pay? Would be great then if you tell us where you think that money then comes from.

[sean1982]

Why can one fleet which is being leased contain only old junk, while the other fleet of >300 company cars is never older than 4 years? I dont get that...

If a car gets older than 4 years it's no longer fiscally attractive. Im sure, as a pilot, you know that.
To replace your aircraft your company needs money. Money that you've decided to throw a couple of million from down the drain the last two days. Money that could have been used to source another 330 next year. If you want new planes, you're gonna have to be a bit more supportive to your company. Like JAF pilots maybe? You can learn a thing or 2 from them.

[b-west]

I also don't think it's entirely fair comparing leased company cars to airplanes. Quite a different market...

[teddybAIR]

They cannot be compaired indeed. but it does raise questions about fleet strategy, not quite a trivial question in an airline, is it?

[sean1982]

How can you have a strategy if you dont have money?

[teddybAIR]

I didn't sayonly expansion strategies can be succesfull...they're easier to sell to management and shareholders, but it doesn't make them the most profitable or viable

[shockcooling]

"Some say" : does this mean that you disagree that the money from which your salary is paid comes from what passengers pay? Would be great then if you tell us where you think that money then comes from.

Of course I don't disagree, and I mentionned I find it just funny to make the comparison. Just read it like this: Some guys on this forum say that the passengers are the ones who pay and not the managers... It was my way of introducing my point of the massive fleet of leased cars in this company, which are indeed fiscally interesting as part of a salary package, not comparable with an aircraft. Just imagine how much effort or costs alone is needed to support a 300+ german made fleet

On the other point, I'm not saying the management pushed the pilots to strike, they have pushed it after more than 2 years, so far that the pilots had enough, and unfortunately decided the only thing to do is go on strike.

[sean1982]

Of course I don't disagree, and I mentionned I find it just funny to make the comparison. Just read it like this: Some guys on this forum say that the passengers are the ones who pay and not the managers... It was my way of introducing my point of the massive fleet of leased cars in this company, which are indeed fiscally interesting as part of a salary package, not comparable with an aircraft. Just imagine how much effort or costs alone is needed to support a 300+ german made fleet

You have 300+ managers?

[FlightMate]

I think it's pretty clear. Managers tried their luck, taking more and more, montbs after months.
They thought employees would never strike.
Cabin crew almost did a couple of months ago.

Pilots had to, in order to make managers understand that 'trop is te veel'.
Pretty sad indeed. But my take is that managers didn't believe it could happen, otherwise, they would have negociated in good faith last week-end. Instead, they just waited for Monday to see first. Not striking then would have sent a signal that managers were welcome to screw their employees once more.

[BRU]

Problem is that management and all other staff are in the same boat. So pointing to each other will not help or solve the case. Company is loosing money, something needs to be done. Together. So yes, maybe management made mistakes and is partially responsable. Same goes for staff, unions etc.

Talking about lease cars is for me demagogic union talk... This might well be a cost saver for the company as it is cheaper than paying higher salary in cash. Very dangerous to have such comments without knowing the full story and all details.

Strike did not help the company, that is for sure. Having a strike when a company is fighting to survive ? Do not think I would do so... But we live in a rather free world, don't we ?

Conclusion: work togheter to make the company better and profitable. The fact that there will be no extra widebody next year is already a clear signal that future will be as though as situation today.

[b720]

very simple, when your business is losing money, you trim. If that does not work, you trim
further and re-assess the whole business.. if the business never makes money, you shut it down!
It is no charity out there, or is it?

[teddybAIR]

very simple, when your business is losing money, you trim. If that does not work, you trim
further and re-assess the whole business.. if the business never makes money, you shut it down!
It is no charity out there, or is it?

cute!

[b720]

You disagree? if so what is your alternative? I'm very keen to hear it, maybe you have a new economic theory
on how a failing business can thrive and grow while losing more money year after year.

[teddybAIR]

the most succesfull companies don't have strategies based on trimming their activities, rather on streamlining them. The cliché oneliner "strategy is knowing what NOT to do" is applicable here. Strategies are based on a very clear vision of where you want to go and how you want to achieve that goal. Now that's not at all what I see at Brussels Airlines. Are they lean & mean? I don't think so? Are they focussing on business pax? I don't see it? Are they low cost? I don't see it. Are they best practice in terms of customer loyalty and maximising customer lifetime value? I doubt it. what is it that they really stand out at? That's what you need to define and realise.
Trimming is simply a short term survival strategy that unfortunately leads to bankrupcy in the long run. Sony was market leader in Compact Discs, but forgot to innovate beyond that and saw it's business model rendered obsolete when other companies transferred the music business model online. Kodak did not anticipate the consequences of digital photography and was so myopic that they convinced themselves that traditional camera's were an economically viable segment to work on...oops! Newspapers were oblivious to the fact that they compete in the 'information business' instead of the 'newspaper business' and were hit hard by the advent of free qualitative online content and are still strugling to find profitable e-channels,...the list is endless.
So to answer your strategy: vision! Does that have to be radical? Not at all. Simply look at JAF...now there is a company that has some strategic cornerstones and commits to living by them...with success so far. You got to respect what they achieved in the last decade!

[sean1982]

Simply look at JAF...now there is a company that has some strategic cornerstones and commits to living by them...with success so far. You got to respect what they achieved in the last decade!

Partly because they offer jobs to the lowest bidder ... there are pilots who are willing to earn less in exchange for a "mostly" comfortable lifestyle in Belgium. There are big bucks out there .... just not in Belgium. That's what SN pilots really need to start to realize. What they want is not viable in Belgium, it will ruin their company.

[teddybAIR]

Simply look at JAF...now there is a company that has some strategic cornerstones and commits to living by them...with success so far. You got to respect what they achieved in the last decade!

Partly because they offer jobs to the lowest bidder ... there are pilots who are willing to earn less in exchange for a "mostly" comfortable lifestyle in Belgium. There are big bucks out there .... just not in Belgium. That's what SN pilots really need to start to realize. What they want is not viable in Belgium, it will ruin their company.

TUI Airlines Belgium had a turnover of 411million € in FY2012. Cost of labor is 43 million € for a 'sociale balans' of 584 FTE's. So you can conclude on the one hand that squeezing the workforce's melon is not your key success factor to profitability and you'll need to do something else correctly as well. Secondly: comparing the 'sociale balans' of JAF with that of Brussels Airlines (publicly available by the way), you'll notice that JAF does not seem to squeeze the melon that much harder than Brussels Airlines. Granted, there's a different mix in company profiles and thus more overhead at Brussels Airlines, but simply stating that JAF's success is based on low wages...nuhuh!