flight attendant

customer service representative

pilot

aircraft mechanic

first officer

British Airways

PROs

- The people I got inducted with are probably some of the best people you can meet. All walks of life from each corner of the globe work at the contact centre.

- The 5 week classroom based training in order to learn the products and services that BA offer to its customers. Very intense training but quite an eye opener. You can use your knowledge to your advantage if you wanted to. You can also have a laugh in the classroom with your fellow colleagues.

The two trainers that I had were very good in their knowledge of the company and what it offers to its customers. Therefore learning from them was a pleasure. 

- If you’re stuck with something that you really struggling with, the more experienced employees will go out of their way in order to help you out. 

- If you wanted to, you could move around the company without much hassle. But the lucrative positions are mainly in London. Here in Manchester it’s only the contact centre - from what I know.

- The perks of discounted travel and potentially upgrading yourself when travelling was really good. However, I never got the chance to use the travel perk. Going off the record of what other people have said, potentially you could get 70+ percent off flight prices, which could save you loads of money (but don’t quote me on it).

- You can make your own judgement on whether you want to pass the charge screen when making changes to the booking as you aren’t running back and forth to get authorisation from management. When you do it’s quite nice for the customer as they respond back very positively making the call easier to deal with.

- If you strayed over your finishing time for the day, you can get that time back for the following day or just let it build until you have a solid half day. 

- Sometimes if you can’t be bothered to come into work, you can ring up and see if you can have the day off. I use to do this mainly with my early starts. Made use of it.

- Might be a small issue for some but working at BA helped me understand different accent's when talking to people on the phone. Due to the nature of the business, you had calls from all round the world. Initially struggled with strong accents but as time went on I started to pick up and understand the customer. 

- There were pretty good bonuses on offer at the time when I was there, quarterly and yearly if I remember correctly. It helped supplement basic income of just over 15k.

- Canteen was large and catered your standard lunch/food at a discount price.


CONs

- Some customers are so obnoxious it’s unbelievable.

- The shift patterns were terrible. I absolutely hated it. Some days you could finish at 2200 and start work again at 0700 which for me personally was too much due to the fact I relied on public transport and it takes nearly an hour to and from work.

You'll be working some weekends but only get a day off in between the two weeks you've worked. So basically I'm saying is that you might aswell give up on your life.

- Besides the contact centre, there is not much for BA here in Manchester. Most are based in London as it is BA's HQ.

- In training they state "be yourself". When I was finally on the phone chitchatting away with customers, I spoke the way I normally speak (without the telephone voice).  However, I was one of the few that got dragged into the office for not speaking properly (posh &amp; formal voice) with the customer. For example, instead of saying "wife" I used to say "your other half" or "missus".

Had to literally tell the managers that training on the phone and actual floor working does not marry up together. Also pointed out that the customer left me a positive feedback and that he was laughing on the phone therefore my relationship with that particular customer was a good relationship.

- Considering BA is a multinational company that is looked at as a very prestigious company, their contact centre in Manchester is very big. However, at any one time it is half full. I personally don’t know if that’s how the roster worked or if they were having issues with recruitment and high turnover of staff because after I left, all of the team I was inducted in with left (approx) within a year.

- Only flexibility is for the job which nine times out of ten works in the favour for BA not yourself. Just in case you finish off work above the allocated time etc...

- Pay was pretty standard at just above 15k. (But bonuses helped you supplement income). Premium airline but dont't pay the wages of a premium company. They easily make a million per week on early seat selection. Thats around 52 million in the bank of free money per year for just letting customers select their seats. Wonder if that money is used to pay its employees or given to the shareholders as an incentive to keep faith in BA?

- Canteen catered your standard lunch/food.


ADVICE TO MANAGEMENT

- Line managers need to take ownership of the team that they run.

- Upper management need to realise the needs and wants of the employees that they are hiring as the contact centre manager didn’t have a clue when me and the team worked there what was happening to the team.

- Set clear goals for people who are starting in the industry. You have people who have worked in the aviation industry for years so comparing them employees to the newbies isn’t fair.

- Need to sort out the work/life balance as it is non-existent.

- Need clear indication on why people are leaving by asking the questions needed in an exit interview.

- Salary needs to be realistic (not sure what it is now but it should be something decent considering the name the employee is representing).

Recently employed as multi skill agent at Didsbury office.  Offered the role in March and start date was July although they brought forward two weeks at little notice and then rushed you for all your documents. The interviewer will tell you it’s six weeks training with a chance to go hybrid after. The actual training is six weeks classroom and six weeks on the job with floor walkers who help you. After speaking with many colleagues hybrid is normally offered after probation at 9 months. The classroom training is very intense you have to sit four validations in order to progress to the on the job training. They don’t give you a lot of time to listen to calls and find out about the actual job. In the six weeks training we were on the floor around four times. RED FLAGS :massive turnover of staff. Longest multi skill agent was 18 months. You will be sat training with people who have been there six / seven months. The calls are non stop. BA have not recovered  from covid there are over 160000 outstanding customer relation cases and they target the cr staff with 8 a day  they say they can do that in a couple of hours and don’t work the rest of the day when they are at home. You will receive the brunt of this on the phone . Baggage queries the same. They have half a million covid vouchers in circulation which customers are struggling to use as they have lots of terms and conditions attached. The systems they use are ancient and not fit for purpose. They use a system called Pegasus google it before you accept a job here. The systems are incredibly slow. The exec club system is slow and not at all user friendly. Gold customers will ring you frustrated it does not work. Same with hold booking for a fee it doesn’t work. The shifts are 8-4:15 10-18:15 and 12:8:15 pm and you will also be stuck on calls and may not finish at that time. They do give you toil. Wrap time is on average 240 seconds but you receive constant feedback from fares and ticketing which you will have to work on using this time . The reason you receive the feedback is the systems do not work half the time so you send the queries to other departments. The gold customers can be very rude and demanding. You will be sworn at and spoken to terribly. They also have a quality department who will monitor your calls with wild expectations whilst you’re still training. You will be learning the systems and they will be asking why you are not upselling seats etc and enhancing the customer experience. For 22k they ask A LOT. Staff travel they push as a massive perk all through your training. You have standby seats and a confirmed booking once a year. You figure out if it’s worth it. business managers aloof and unapproachable however the team leaders are all very helpful and friendly . It seems that anyone who works here does so to progress into something else be that crew, fares, ticketing or want to do cr to get off the phones. Join at your peril! 

I worked at British Airways i360 for 9 months, terrible place.
Management were self absorbed, two faced, unskilled and under qualified people, not a leader in sight. 
HR was not confidential, she shared an office with management and immediately passed on what I said in confidence. 
Uniform standards were changed 4 months into my contract, banning tattoos, funnily enough the 70% tattooed team from Brighton couldn't just wash them off so the witch hunt began. 
It became a very unpleasant working environment. 
A member of staff who was a huge brown noser was promoted with not interview, he was under qualified, the entire team declared he was unfit for the job, but were ignored so the work environment got worse. 
Health and safety is ignored, corridors and fire exits were blocked for months despite daily reports of hazards. 
Any member of the public who kicked off or even attacked staff would immediately be given free tickets or refunds to "avoid a scene" and staff were persuaded not to report crimes to police under threat of "bringing the company name into disrepute" 
The events team have no clue about how to run an event safely or securely, safety should always come before customer experience, wedging open fire doors and leaving tables in front of exits and other ludicrous actions were a regular occurance. 
Money was living wage, but not enough for the area, commuting was the only way to live rather than just survive. 
The attraction itself is a huge failure, and heavily in debt to its investors including the council, 
Uniform standard was stupid, jackets were not allowed inside the building, I attended a security incident having been patrolling outside, I entered into the building to assist my colleagues who were in trouble, after the incident I was reprimanded for wearing a jacket inside. 
The management team literally live on another planet, egotistical is the best term along with incompetent. 
I would not recommend any security staff work here.

My biggest annoyance about working for British Airways is their ridiculous blame and ‘catch you out’ culture. On Mixed Fleet, it is an information overload - multiple aircraft to know (A319/A320/A321, B777, B787 and B747 or A380) and services too (including Club World and First). With so much to know, tiny mistakes are often made, and many of these will be documented by overzealous Customer Service Managers. Their instant feedback, which they will tell you is a “good thing” actually isn’t. It goes on your performance file and will affect the pittance of a bonus that the company pays each year.

I support action for safety related issues but for an unintentional deviation from service standards, absolutely not. For example, using the incorrect glass, forgetting to use a drip mat (a paper coaster). There’s no such thing as an ‘off the cuff’ dealing with a situation. It must be documented. This destroys morale and leaves crew feeling incapable and inadequate.

As a big fleet, it is not uncommon to go to work and not to know anybody that you are flying alongside. But you do get to know people and you’ll nearly always get to work in a cabin that you enjoy.

You also get to bid for the destinations that you like the most. Similarly, you can bid for trips and days off that you want, and there is the ability to buddy bid too - flying with friends. You can enter generic bids - by trip duration, continent, sectors in a trip, or, more specifically, by flight number, destination or even time of day.

There is a staff travel scheme, allowing standby travel for you and two nominees, but it is well used and this, along with high loads, means that you may not always get on your preferred flight. Standby travel extends to many other airlines too.

On board, there is never a shortage of food. On longer flights, crew meals are loaded, but crew generally eat leftover food in the ovens. Whatever you eat though, it’s repetitive and unhealthy. I prefer to provide my own meals.

A basic salary on Mixed Fleet is basic! But, controversially, I feel that our allowances (an hourly rate) hike this up significantly and it is possible to earn £1,800-£2,000 per month (net), assuming plenty of long haul and good commission.

It was once an amazing company to work for and one that I felt very proud to do so. Things have changed quite considerably over the last 30 years, as indeed you would expect them to do so, however, not all for the better. 

Far too many middle managers who seem less interested in the welfare of their employees than they do in reaching their targets. Staff moral is at an all time low, especially those employed on the World Wide fleet and management do not appear to be remotely concerned! One might even be excused for thinking they are overjoyed with the situation! 

It seems ironic that an airline can treat their employees so badly. 
From the customer perspective, it is often not until they board the aircraft that they actually get to interact with anybody from British Airways {booked their flights online, checked in online, no baggage drop, passed through the airport and boarded by contracted personal} The first face and front line of the airline is the crew… then why on gods earth do the company not invest in them? When was the last time they underwent any form of training other than mandatory required training? When were they congratulated for the job they do? given the appropriate equipment and products to provide a fully functioning service? When were they last made to feel valued or of any worth? When were there any promotional opportunities made available to those wishing to better themselves? Answer…. A VERY, VERY LONG TIME AGO! 

Come on BA, invest in your frontline staff. Look after them and they inturn will do an even better job of looking after the reason why we are all there… The Customer.

I absolutely loved working here, this was the first job I have ever had where I could see myself progressing through the company over the years. After going through 6-8 weeks of group training, we were officially taking calls on our own for flight only bookings, there was a lot of processes and policies to learn and follow but the manager I had at the time was amazing at supporting everyone on the team, helping wherever he could and just generally being a good manager. The probation period was 9 months and after about 7 we got more training over the course of 4 weeks to be moved to holiday bookings as well as continuing to do flight bookings. This was difficult for me as there was even more policies and processes to follow for every single situation possible, I did express that i was struggling but the new manager we had been assigned did not care to explain things in different ways or even offer any type of support at all. It wasn’t long after being moved to this department that my probation period ended and was told due to my work over the last 2-3 weeks that i would not be kept on with the company. I broke down completely that day as it was extremely disheartening. Throughout the entire time I was employed I had been trying my absolute hardest, putting as much effort as possible in, trying to make commission etc, while also attempting to keep inline with all company policies. I had been awarded ‘golden tickets’ from some of our elite customers but apparently none of that mattered in the end. I was sent home the same day and honestly haven’t been in a good place since. 

A typical day at work involves being treated badly by management, your colleagues and the backstabbing culture that my generation seem to have.

What I will say though is that the customers, despite getting upset quite regularly thanks to senior management making massive cuts and not offering support for any part of the service other than to make profit for paying shareholders and there selves were some of the most amazing people you'd ever meet.  It was hard seeing them not receive the service they paid for.

What I learned was that British Airways has changed from a family with some very good people, some who are retiring shortly or are being pushed out to a lower talent pool with far less pay which will forever change the standards of this airline.

Management are horrendous. They will make your life hassle or sack you for anything without a proper thorough investigation. Simply because you are a number, and a replacement is cheaper.

The talent pool is stretched due to the low pay, so some of the people in the job will back-stab you to get above you or out of trouble. This is from first hand experience and the majority of my colleagues who lost there jobs or left.

The most enjoyable part of the job was meting some of the old school people and learning what life really is about.  That you must respect your elders because they are knowledgeable.

Any job at BA now will make you work for very bad pay and terms and conditions. Simply to fund capitalism.

I currently work as a Long Haul Flight Crew Planner for British Airways.
Experience gained whilst working has enabled me to develop great strength of character and inner confidence and this has helped me to lead a team as well a working well on my own. I have a positive attitude towards everything I do and I work in a calm, organized and efficient manner. I have developed my interpersonal skills working with clients from different backgrounds both face to face and via business calls. My job role means I have to be organized and I am able to adapt to various situations. I have already gained valuable experience within various roles in the airline/ travel industry as ground staff as a Customer Service Agent and Volunteer Cabin Crew; as well as  working in the Cargo in the Contact Centre. My experience means that I am confident in delivering excellent Customer Service whilst managing and increasing my KPI’s with the aim of increasing British Airways revenue and ensuring the business runs to the best standard.  My current job role as a Long Haul Flight Crew Planner means that I have gained valuable experience working with Pilots liaising with them in regards to their training routes.  Therefore I am able to anticipate hurdles from both Flight and Cabin Crew allowing me to deliver a more thorough customer service by anticipating and solving problems and providing strategies.  I am now ready for a new challenge .  I am available immediately for interviews.

Do NOT apply. Before even joining, the process of getting security clearance was made difficult by the company as they will lose your references without fail and constantly move your start date with no consideration for yourself. You are treated as a number, management do not have empathy and trial new/different processes every couple months to try and cost-save without any understanding of its impact to staff, only for it to fail anyway. Merging departments together to cost save, making employees do extra duties whilst taking a pay CUT.  I was offered a promotion after passing all the selection processes, and was then given excuses for 2 years by management on why I was still waiting to be moved into the new role, only for them to use COVID as an excuse to not give me it. Even the unions are hopeless and do not help members. Payroll haven't got a clue how to get the correct pay issued. For nearly 2 years I was paid incorrectly every month without fail. This problem became worse when furlough was introduced. Please do not make the mistake I did and apply for this company, which was once a very prestigious brand and working environment. Behind the 'great customer service' you may experience/see is a mistreated and undervalued workforce, overseen by a 'safety for employees first,... unless it affects performance' type management.

Working as cabin crew for British Airways (BA) offers a blend of positives and negatives. 

Positives:

1. Prestige: BA is known for its high standards and reputation for excellence, which can enhance your career prospects.
2. Travel Opportunities: You get to visit various destinations around the world but come back the same day (shorthaul).
3. Diversity: Working with an international team and meeting passengers from diverse backgrounds can be culturally enriching.
4. Training: BA provides comprehensive training to ensure you're equipped to handle various situations onboard.
5. Benefits: Employees often receive travel perks and competitive compensation packages.

Negatives:
1. Structure: Some employees may find the organizational structure to be rigid, making it challenging to adapt to changing circumstances.
2. Training: While BA offers training, some may feel that it's not always sufficient or up to date with industry standards.
3. Management: Issues with management can arise, including communication breakdowns or a lack of support for frontline staff.
4. Development Opportunities: Career advancement and development opportunities may be limited, with few chances for promotion or skill enhancement.
5. Work-Life Balance: The irregular hours and demanding schedule can make it challenging to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Often working on minimum rest (12 hours)

Overall, while working as cabin crew for BA can be rewarding in many ways, it's essential to consider both the positives and negatives before pursuing a career in this field.

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