BA chief Willie Walsh to get £700,000 bonus!

After the chaos of the Terminal 5 opening, the British Airways chief is in line for a £700,000 bonus. You couldn't make it up if you tried. His airline loses bags, doesn't train staff properly and thinks things will all work out on their own. This week, he admitted to MPs that he was ultimately responsible for the farcical scenes shown around the world on TV. He told the Travel Select Committee that he had been aware of problems with the £4.3billion terminal before it opened, and had discussed delaying its first day. Mr Walsh said, "It was a calculated risk and one I decided to take. You can't point the finger at anyone else."

It'll be alright on the night? Is Willie Walsh running British Airways or Denis Norden? Come off it Willie, you fouled up. How can you, hand on your heart, take this cash? It's ON TOP OF YOUR SALARY!!

Surely a bonus is for doing something good, making the company better placed in the market. This is just a bad joke. It's not the free enterprise I support. It's just free greed. We should all say no to it.

BA careers terminated by T5 fiasco!

The careers of two senior British Airways executives were ended abruptly today. Only days after Willie Walsh said nobody was going, these two get the chop. Gareth Kirkwood, director of operations, and David Noyes, director of customer services, are going. One wonders what Willie is thinking. He says he's got to stay in order to sort out the mess. Had he no contributing hand in all this? Sounds like he swanned in all aghast at the terrible chaos, but saw none of it as being linked to him.

If Willie Walsh ever appeared on the Apprentice as project manager with these two hapless boardroom casualties, it would be fairly obvious that the audience would be wondering how he escaped. "What was you thinking, Willie? 25,000 bags went missing! You weren't there. You brought Gareth back into the boardroom. Why him? A wizz at computers, eh? And what of David. No good, was 'e?" It would make good TV if nothing else!

However, the T5 story goes on. A bit like Peyton Place, for those who can remember it. Now insurance companies are saying they won't insure lost bags in Terminal 5. It's never ending. Someone needs to get a grip, and it's not just the bag handles.

The Willie Walsh job interview!

"Good morning, Willie. We'd just like to ask you a few questions. OK?"
"Yes!"
"What makes you think you'll make a good job of running Terminal 5?"
"Well, I've kissed the Blarney Stone. Will that help?"
"Could do. Have you had any experience handling bags?"
"Not actually carrying bags, if that's what you mean, but I once carried the bishop's mitre when I was an altar boy!"
"Very commendable. How are you at car parking? Have you much experience?"
"Not with parking other people's cars. I did come top in my driving test with my three-point turns, though."
"Excellent! Very good. Well, that's about it then, Willie. Have you any questions before you start?"
"Yes. Where do I pick up the key to start that conveyor belt thing?"