A new take from the government on the BA cabin crew strike

Well the British Airways lobby team has done an excellent job on new UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond briefing him on the realities of life in the airline business.

Here is a couple of quotes from him on the BBC's Today radio show this morning (link to the full interview here) talking about the rights and wrongs of the forthcoming cabin crew strike:

"My message to BA and to the people who work for BA is that the future success of the airline and the future security of the jobs of the people who work for BA depend on two things: BA retaining the loyalty of its customers, which clearly is becoming strained, and BA being able to deliver a business model which allows it to compete with lower cost airlines who do not have some of the legacy costs BA has."

"If the competitors that BA is facing have a lower cost base, in the end BA will not succeed unless it is able to get its costs down," said Hammond.

Now of course Hammond will not come out and say the cabin crew are in the wrong, but this message is as clear as it can be to me - this government says settle like all your other colleagues have done and get back to work!