Advert of the year 2011

SOMETIMES, the adverts are the most annoying part of a commercial TV show, especially during a tense gameshow or dramatic soap episode.  Normally, these three minute interludes are the perfect excuse to use the toilet, put the kettle on, text someone important on your phone and so on.  However, sometimes adverts, despite being at times, completely pointless, can have you in stitches or even leave you feeling emotional.  Here are my favourite 20 adverts of 2011;

20           Virgin Atlantic – Star Role

Virgin Atlantic's advert isn't quite as good as BA, but they needed to try something if they want to keep getting customers interested in their flights.  This is called 'living the high life.'  It works for me!

19           BMW – 6 Series

This advert is really uplifting and uptempo, promoting the 6 Series model from BMW, with catchy music and dynamic water fountains, alongside the stylish machinery.  It does what the advert says, promotes the joy of driving.

18           Lynx – Perspiration

As men, we all want to have fun and get the most attractive girl possible and when it gets in the way, it really does get in the way.  Like Suremen Xtra Cool, I'm not entirely sure about how or if it would work, but I guess I've never been in that position before.

17           Santander – Lego Car

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton help their dedicated workers build a lego version of a Formula One McLaren in this advert.  Ignore the announcer's promotion of its banking deals, appreciate the art in 60 seconds.

16           Suremen Xtra Cool – Ice Skater

I'm not 100 per cent convinced by the product, but it is a catchy way to promote it, by having an individual go through a day on his ice skates.  It certainly would go with the current type of weather we are experiencing in the UK!

15           Direct Line – Free Cake!

Comedians Chris Addison and Alexander Armstrong's first entry is where a pitch needs reworking for Direct Line's car insurance.  So, what better to do that than by promoting free cake to your customers, even if the salesman doesn't know anything about this incentive!

14           Boots - Soltan

When I first saw this, it had me in stitches and I certainly don't want to look like this in future!  That is all!

13           Fiat – Fernando Alonso

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso has a busy and very social lifestyle, as indicated in this commercial.  Someone doesn't know how to take it easy, but then again, life would be boring if it was too easy.

12           Halfords – Crocodile

Easter's promotion at Halfords was to release a crocodile into a family home and force them into the car and off to take advantage of their 'stunning' deals.  Let's be honest, it's not everyday that you get a crocodile in your home!

11           Skoda – Made of Sterner Stuff

Skoda's famous cake car advert is replaced by a meaner version in 2011 of how to put a car together!  Obviously, the makers didn't want the company to have a soft feel to this advert and it had to be made of sterner stuff.  It's not a favourite of mine, but even still, would draw the attention of the normal individual.

10           Cravendale – Cats!

To many of us, cats are seen as lovely pets to have, even if they can do their business in the most inappropriate places!  This commercial sees the cat show their frustration at not getting the milk they crave for.  As the narrator says; 'Jog on Kittens!'

9              Specsavers – Space Shuttle

'Should have gone to Specsavers!'  Well, Luton Airport will never get a Space Shuttle land on their airport runway anymore.  Maybe these astronauts don't realise that having vision is an important part of our lives.

8              British Airways – To Fly, To Serve!

British Airways have had mixed fortunes in recent years, but have a distinguished history, which is reminded in this advert through the ages.  It provides us with a memory of flying with privilege with the world's favourite airline.

7              Vauxhall – Supporting a Nation

British manufacturer Vauxhall began sponsoring Home Nations football in February and promoted their commitment to the England team, with this advert which has the nation lining up everywhere, with pride and tradition.  Features England players, both old and new and ends in Wembley Stadium.  Throw in Noel Gallagher's new song with his new band, and it makes it a memorable advert.

6              Argos – Christmas 2011 (Aliens)

Panic buying is at the top of many people's stresses around this time of year.  It could be so much easier if you reserved and collected your xmas shopping, especially when Argos and the aliens come into the equation.  Apparently, it's just as popular as Justin Bieber, but I'm not surprised by this!

5              Direct Line – Hoax!

Comedians Alexander Armstrong and Chris Addison make the list for a second time, with this advert in the mini Direct Line series.  This time, the customer produces a publicity stunt which goes horribly wrong and to the salesman's annoyance, brings the police in!  Until now, car insurance adverts were boring, so thank you Direct Line for bringing these two funnybones together!

4              Muller Yoghurt – Wonderful Stuff

When I first saw this advert, I wasn't gripped by it, but it is actually catchy and I don't even like yoghurt!  As we all know, Muller is clearly made of Wonderful Stuff.

3              Pepsi Max – Business Meeting

Pepsi Max have a history of producing commercials that are totally ridiculous.  However, these made me laugh.  'What the heck is that parrot doing here?'  Let's be honest, drinking Pepsi Max and watching the racing is a million times better than a tedious Friday afternoon business meeting.

2              Carling – Refreshed

A long day at work, yep we all know the feeling!  So, what's the best feeling to become totally refreshed, well it's simple.  Has to be over a pint of Carling according to the makers.  It's not a bad vision, I must admit.

1              John Lewis – Christmas 2011

This is my advert of the year and such a touching and memorable commerical too.  It is one of the best ever Christmas adverts I've ever seen.  A young child is waiting for the big day to arrive, but it isn't to receive gifts, but to give one to his parents.  His anguish in the slow countdown is clear to see and it reminds us that Christmas is totally more than receiving presents.  A masterpiece of an advert if there ever was one.

2010: My reflection on the big stories

WE MAY be five days already into the new year and whilst 2011 offers most the chance of a fresh start, the year 2010 gave us some dramatic stories in one of the most spectacular years of recent modern times.  Here are my own personal reflections of ten of the top stories that made the headlines last year.

The Chilean miners’ miracle

For me, the story of the year was the miraculous rescue of the Chilean miners.  When the 33 miners were first reported missing on August 6, there seemed to be little hope of survival.  However, they sent messages at the end of the month which confirmed they were still alive, and on one emotional October day, the 33 men were bought to surface for the first time since the mine they were working on collapsed.  Mining is a dangerous business, as was tragically shown by the events in New Zealand at the end of the year, but this was the miracle of all miracles.  All the miners seem to be relatively uninjured, despite being underground for over two months and now are experiencing fame for the outcome.  The whole rescue was amazing and gave me such a positive vibe, to have a happy story dominate the headlines, rather than the usual depressing gloom of political strife or our brave soldiers perishing in conflicts abroad.

Haiti’s devastating earthquake

In the late hours of Tuesday January 12, the lives of thousands of people in Haiti changed forever, when a devastating earthquake hit the country.  Measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, it bought scenes of tragedy, carnage and devastation to a nation already suffering as one of the poorest in the world.  With the cholera outbreak at the end of the year, the people of Haiti will want to forget 2010 in a hurry.  If you weren’t moved by this story, then you have serious mental issues!  The pictures on the news shook me up totally.  Seeing the stories of broken families, tales of staggering survival brought tears to my eyes.  The aid appeal was unbelievable, something not seen around for over 25 years.  I donated some of my own money and it makes you stop and think ‘How lucky we are,’ when others are so less fortunate.

 

The General Election

DEBATE: The leadership televised contests were intriguing

Traditionally, the General Election has been nothing more than a damp squib, certainly in my generation.  It was so different in 2010, with a stuttering Gordon Brown, a confident David Cameron and the underdog, Nick Clegg all fighting for supremacy.  The televised leadership debates put a new dimension on the election campaign and when Brown uttered his ‘bigoted woman’ comment after a confrontation with Gillian Duffy in Rochdale, his fate was sealed.  A ‘hung parliament’ for the first time since the 1970’s put the country on tenterhooks.  Eventually, Brown did the dignified thing and stepped down and a new coalition government was formed, with Cameron at the head of it.  The election campaign was spectacular and 2010 was the most interesting race for a long time.  Even though I’m not a politics fan, it was a great campaign and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

England’s superstars flop in South Africa

FLOP: Gerrard was one of many to under-perform in South Africa

The World Cup went to Africa for the first time ever last summer, and whilst the ‘vuvuzela’ took a lot of the colourful atmosphere, England’s failure to perform was maybe not a total surprise, but certainly, an unexpected shock.  Once Robert Green made his catastrophic mistake against the United States in Rustenberg, England’s campaign went downhill from there.  Fabio Capello failed to manage the players, former captain John Terry led a player rebellion which went nowhere and Wayne Rooney’s lack of performance was startling.  Forget the ‘goal’ in Bloemfontein against the younger and stronger German side; we still would have lost the game anyway.  England arrived in South Africa full of pride of confidence.  When they left, that had turned into shattered dreams of epic failure.  It was a crushing disappointment and made me ashamed to support the national team, so much so, I’m not interested in their Euro 2012 campaign.  The superstars flopped in spectacular fashion.

Cheryl Cole’s miserable year

If any celebrity had the worst year in 2010, it had to be Cheryl Cole.  The Girls Aloud singer and X-Factor judge broke up from Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole, after allegations of Ashley sleeping around with women were published in the tabloids again.  In the summer, a mosquito bite she picked up whilst on holiday with good friend Derek Hough in Tanzania led to Cheryl picking up a deadly case of malaria.  She was close to death, but pulled through and began work on the X-Factor.  Her judging decisions in not selecting Gamu Nhengu for the final stages and for not choosing between her acts Treyc Cohen and Katie Waissel during a live elimination also led to a barrage of criticism in her direction.  For me, Cheryl is the nation’s sweetheart and she had no choice to end her marriage and the malaria was a real shock to many in general.  She didn’t have the greatest X-Factor ever, but I’m confident that Cheryl will be back to her best this year.

Tragic mass shootings in Cumbria

The tragic mass shootings in Cumbria bought a community together and placed a nation into grieving shock.  The actions of taxi driver Derrick Bird were despicable and left twelve innocent people dead and twenty-five seriously wounded.  Whitehaven may be able to recover in the future, but it will sadly have a place in the history books for being Britain’s biggest massacre since the Dunblane tragedy of 1996.  Like everyone else, thoughts were with the friends and family of the dead and I was at a loss to sum it all up.

Volcanic ash cloud

Air travel was left in shutdown mode by the massive volcanic eruption in Iceland.  Large amounts of ash were thrown into the skyline, which left many passengers stranded across airports in Europe for safety reasons.  Organisation could have been improved, but what can you do when Mother Nature decides to take control?  It was a unique event, as I can’t remember a time when air travel had completely been shut for this kind of reason and for those close to the volcano, made for a lovely picture sight.  

The travel chaos & the BA cabin crew strikes

TOUGH: It was a year to forget for the travel industry.

The Icelandic volcanic eruption added to the troubles for the travel industry, which endured a bleak 2010.  Chaos by snow in the UK throughout January and December created misery for many and the British Airways cabin crew strikes of the spring were to me, seen as poor, unnecessary and silly.  BA’s fortunes recovered slightly in the second half of the year, but their reputation took some daft knocks at the start of the year.

The hunt for Raoul Moat

Less than a month after the Cumbria shootings, news headlines were dominated by more shootings, this time the hunt of Raoul Moat.  Moat was released from prison after an 18-week sentence and ended up shooting his ex-girlfriend, killed her new lover and blinded an innocent police officer.  After a tense six hour stand-off with police in Rothbury on Friday July 9, Moat shot himself dead, bringing an unsavoury conclusion to a drama that gripped the nation.  My feelings were of a mixed feeling.  Moat’s actions can’t be condoned and the police were placed in a very difficult position when it came to the final stand-off.

Tuition fees violence

UNSAVOURY: The tuition fees violence bought dark days back

The decision to raise tuition fees at University for upto £9,000 a year from 2012 onwards was a drastic measure by the coalition government, and bought scenes of violence in the capital that hadn’t been seen since the Poll Tax Riots of 1990.  The actions of those who decided just to destroy things, such as smash windows in the Treasury, throw a fire extinguisher off Tory HQ and attack the car of the Prince of Wales bought the good name in ‘student’ down.  However, Nick Clegg’s u-turn couldn’t be ignored and he was a deserved target for students who felt that their promises had been broken and vote in the election wasted.  Although the rise has gone through in both the House of Commons and House of Lords, there are many unhappy with the situation and I don’t predict an end to the unsavoury scenes we saw in the final two months of 2010.

More BA Strikes - When Will The Dispute End?

The bitter dispute between the Unite Union and British Airways has rumbled on even further, as BA cabin crew are about to start the second day of a five-day strike.  The staff walked out at midnight last night, after constant negotiations between the two parties failed to reach any kind of settlement. 

With more strikes on the way next week, travel plans for hundreds of thousands of passengers are set to be ruined again, with the half-term school holidays on the way, students breaking up for University hoping for a cheap break, and passionate England fans, hoping to get to South Africa in time for the World Cup finals.  With England’s first match against the USA on 12^th June, many fans face heartbreak of being stuck inside a stuffy airport terminal, rather than rooting on their heroes in Rustenberg.

On Monday, BA said it was operating 60% of its long-haul flights out of Heathrow and 50% of short-haul.  They also claimed that Gatwick airport was unaffected by the strikes, and many cabin crew were not supporting the strike and still working, as some need the income to keep family/independent support going.  The latest dispute is over pay demands and terms & conditions within of the agreement.  British Airways has also accused Unite of failing to take up offers of further late-night negotiations and it was disappointed that the union had restored to “negotiation through the media.” 

The boss of BA, Willie Walsh is coming under intense pressure to relinquish his role as head of the company.  It seems that Unite are firmly putting the blame firmly on his doors, rather than on British Airways the company.  Despite recording record losses last Friday, Walsh told ITN that he was determined to fight on and not give in to Unite’s latest demands, as well as putting pressure on the government to give out compensation for last month’s chaotic airline disruption, due to the volcanic ash in Iceland. 

The last stoppages, which took place just on the dawn of the Easter holidays and cabin crew who went on strike back then were not paid.  Unite’s problem is not with this formality, but with the travel concessions towards staff who took part.  They are demanding for these concessions to be restored, otherwise all of the latest strikes will take place.  Latest talks were brought to a standstill on Saturday evening, when union protestors stormed into the venue where negotiations were being held.  Allegedly, they were given the venue’s description by a Union leader via his updates on the social networking site, Twitter. 

Last week, British Airways was granted an injunction to prevent the strikes in the High Court, as they ruled that the Unite union had not reported the results of its strike ballot correctly to its members.  Three days later, an appeal by the union overturned the decision.  Along with this strike, two further five-day walkouts are scheduled to begin on May 30^th and June 5^th.

The dispute, which has dragged on for months between BA and Unite has involved clashes on significant job cuts, working conditions and pay decreases.  Tony Woodley and Willie Walsh are both as bad as one another and one wonders to think when this dispute will actually come to an end.  To be honest, it has brought British Airways reputation to its knees and if someone doesn’t give in and budge soon, it won’t be long before ‘The World’s Favourite Airline,’ may end up facing total extinction.  

Liverpool Owners Ready To Sell - Has The Self-Destruct Button Already Been Pressed?

On Friday morning, Liverpool fans got the news that they really wanted, when it was confirmed in a joint statement by the unpopular American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks have put the debt-ridden club for sale.  The Anfield side is currently £237million in debt, an alarming figure by anyone’s standards in this economic climate.  However, has the self-destruct button on the red side of Merseyside already been pressed?

The boss of British Airways, Martin Broughton who is a lifelong Chelsea fan and a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge has been brought in by the owners as the new chairman, to oversee the new deal.  Already, Hicks and Gillett have claimed that there has been strong interest for the club regarding new ownership and investment.  It is believed that under-fire boss Rafa Benitez will keep his job in the new deal, despite the increase in rumours about a possible move to limping Italian giants Juventus.  It is also likely that Real Madrid will try and tempt Benitez, born in Madrid with a lucrative offer this summer. 

However, a quick sale is very unlikely, with Hicks & Gillett looking for nearly £600million pounds according to some reports.  The American giants took over the club in February 2007, from the previous chairman David Moores.  Then, they paid less than half than the offer they are looking for now and with Liverpool’s on the field struggle; I find it pretty difficult to comprehend the figure they are looking for.  For a while now, the owners have been under intense pressure to sell from the investment companies they deal with it, due to the debt increasing, almost with every passing day.  The crippling debts have also hampered any potential work on the new stadium that Liverpool had been planning to build at Stanley Park.  Plus, Benitez had given the board an ultimatum, wanting at least £80million for the summer shopping window, as he bids to get the Merseyside failures back on par with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The owners relationship with one another has been strained for certain parts of their ownership at Anfield, even coming out once saying the partnership was ‘unworkable.’  At the Reds home games, it is quite surprising to see them sit next to one another, often a full row apart in the directors’ box, which obviously highlighted tensions.  Former chief executive Rick Parry left last summer in attempts to sort the battles in the boardroom once and for all, but the difficulty has remained in their partnership, as the relationship with at times, a passive Benitez.  In October 2009, fans demonstrated outside the ground before a home Premiership win against Manchester United, they’ve never seen eye-to-eye with the owners.

On the pitch, things haven’t been much better either.  Liverpool ended up as shock casualties in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the autumn and then Reading humiliated them at Anfield in an FA Cup third round replay in the middle of January.  Premiership prospects have been even worse, and the club faces a mountain to climb in efforts to overhaul Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the scrap for 4^th place and England’s final Champions place next season.  Inconsistency from some key players and an injury-hit season for leading marksman Fernando Torres has added to these issues.  Only a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League have kept any momentum in their season whatsoever.  The decision to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid for £30million was a key matter and it really has highlighted Liverpool’s slump this campaign.  Alonso’s direct replacement, Alberto Aquilani has struggled all season with poor fitness levels, whilst the other key-signing, Glen Johnson has also been plagued with injury. 

For LFC fans, there has been a lot of frustration this season to endure and this is unlikely to be a quick sale either.  Hopefully, stability can now be achieved with the impending departure of the Americans, but it could well be a long and painful process.  The self-destruct button has already been pressed and limitations must be put in place for the fans to get the craving success they deserve in the short-term.

Icelandic Ash Leaves Air Travel In Shutdown Mode

For the first time in living memory, there is no-zone flying area in Britain, following the massive eruption of a previously dormant volcano in Iceland, which spread massive amounts of ash into the skyline.  For the past 48 hours, airports across the UK and Northern Europe have been turned into parking lots, with up to half a million people affected by this air travel lockdown, which has nothing to do for once, with human elements.

Airports have closed in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and France, leaving many passengers stranded, furious about the lack of communication and sleeping on benches, rather than comfortable hotel or holiday apartment beds.  The air chaos has also had effects on other forms of transport, with EuroStar almost completely booked up and a high demand on the ferries too, with the port of Dover struggling to cope with the increased amounts of consumer traffic.

This sky lockdown has been caused due to volcanic ash from the volcano eruption, which has been erupting for nearly a month now, but nothing quite like what we’ve seen in recent days.  Plus, there are no signs of this eruption ending anytime soon.  All airports in the UK have shut until at least 2am tomorrow morning, and British Airways has now cancelled all flights out of Heathrow tomorrow.   Only minimal services coming out of Glasgow and Irish airports, as the ash cloud descends across the UK.  There have already been reports of ash falling to the ground in Northern Scotland, though the health risk is thought to be minimal.  It shouldn’t cause serious harm, but health warnings are urging everyone to take precautions. 

Neither recent industrial action, nor terrorism threats could do what the volcano 900 miles away has done, grounded air travel to a comprehensive halt.  Safety is the paramount concern here and it is simply not safe for planes to fly through the ash smoke – otherwise their engines will either fail, stall or shutdown.  The possible results would be cataclysmic to even think about it.  This is the biggest shutdown since 9/11, with over 4,000 flights cancelled and more heading that route as the weekend goes on. 

Travel industries have urged customers not to panic and try to understand what is happening here.  Some are complaining of a lack of information, which is perfectly understandable and the disruption is likely to continue into next week as well.  With the snowstorms of the start in the year, plus the recent British Airways strikes and the threatened rail strikes, 2010 is turning into a miserable year for the travel industry.

Railstrike Averted By High Court - But The War Is Not Over!

Thursday’s high court ruling of a national rail strike was averted, but the war is far from over, as the RMT Union has insisted they are still prepared to strike in the future.

The high court ruled in favour of Network Rail, who granted an emergency injunction against the RMT Union.  With a threat of a rail strike out of the way, Gordon Brown is now firmly widely expected to call an expected May 6^th date for the General Election on Tuesday.  The TUC chief, Brendan Barber is blaming the Chancellor Alistair Darling for him to reduce the country’s budget deficits.  He has warned that if not, more strikes could be the way of action this year, following the Network Rail action and the recent cabin crew strikes from British Airways.

Millions of passengers would have been affected by the four-day strike, which would have started on Tuesday morning.  If the strike had gone ahead, only one in five trains had been expected to run.  In the ballot last week, 54% of those who took part in the RMT ballot voted in favour of a strike, but Network Rail’s claims were reliable that the ballot had been unconventional and unreliable.  Only 112 of 4,556 rail signallers were balloted, which showed a complete lack of inaccuracy.  Network Rail suggested that ‘Ghost Votes,’ were used for the ballot.  Some votes used even included signal boxes that have not been opened or used since the 1960’s.

Signal workers can now not strike on Tuesday and a few hours later, maintenance workers also called off their strike.  It means that now delays and cancellations after the Easter weekend are now very unlikely.  Network Rail said it had unearthed massive inaccuracies in the RMT ballot and that the Union had failed to comply with the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.  Over 300 potential votes were not cast.  Areas such as Rugby were not balloted, whereas South Tottenham was.  At South Tottenham, eleven signallers were asked to vote, but Network Rail discovered that only three are employed in the area.

Meanwhile, no resolution is in sight with the British Airways cabin crew strike.  The crew have already taken part in seven days of strike action, and talks between the two parties, Unite Union and BA have grounded into deadlock again.  Both are still blaming one another and more chaos is predicted. 

For now, the rail strike is off, but it is far from finished.  Network Rail may have won this battle, but the war is far from finished.  

Rail Strike Looms - More Easter Misery On The Way

Yesterday, it was announced that a national rail strike would take place after the Easter weekend, which would cause more travel chaos for families planning to get away for a break, and for commuters who will be working through the mess.  The first national rail stoppage since 1994 will begin on Tuesday 6^th April, and run for four days, unless talks are successful between Union leaders and the government in preventing more headaches for many…

This stems from the members of the RMT union, all maintenance workers and signallers, with 54% voting in favour of a strike.  Although yesterday’s news was slightly better, as initial signs had been that a strike would begin on April 1^st, which is scant consolation for the mayhem is set for cause.  The leader of the RMT, Bob Crow announced the strike yesterday and has urged the government to start talking to and to take this threat seriously. 

For Gordon Brown, this threatens to be a complete disaster, compounded by the recent British Airways cabin crew strikes, with more planned this week.  The April 6^th strike date is exactly the same day it is expected that Brown will see the Queen to call a General Election for May 6^th.  Consequently, this is the last thing he needs and if I was a major player in Mr. Brown’s affairs, I would try to get him to delay the date, especially with this latest crisis set to emerge.

Like the BA situation, it’s a cutting issue that has led to the trouble.  The company’s regulator wants efficiency savings of 21%.  Network Rail’s cost-cutting measures could have significant impact, as 1,500 maintenance jobs are set to be lost and signallers could be asked to do some of the jobs that maintenance workers do now, which could be seen as inadequate to say the least.  The dangers of slipping back to the bad times of the 1990’s, with the demise of InterCity, the nationalisation of British Rail and the doomed Railtrack era loom very large indeed.   

The Highways Agency is prepared for the upcoming strike and has announced plans to lift as many roadwork’s as possible, in an attempt to ease congestion.  Network Rail is confident of running a solid timetable during the strike, though I think this more of an optimistic and positive prediction, than a realistic one.  It is now up to the Unions and the Transport secretary Lord Adonis to bang their heads together and prevent this strike from happening; otherwise the losers once again will be the tens of thousands of travellers, whose Easter business and leisure time look set to be disrupted even further.

BA Strike - Two Tribes At War Means Misery For Millions

At midnight last night, cabin crew staff from the ‘world’s favourite airline,’ walked out to start a three-day strike that will have severe ramifications for many’s travel plans this weekend.  British Airways is at the moment in a real mess, it doesn’t really matter who is to blame as the outcome is the same.  Millions will be made miserable and frustrated by the current and upcoming planned strikes. 

Ongoing talks between the airline and the Unite Union collapsed yesterday afternoon, after 48 hours of fruitless negotiation.  The blame game has already begun, following the failure to agree, and both parties are blaming the others for the failure in negotiations.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown has demanded the failure of talks as ‘unacceptable’ and has called for the strike to be called off immediately.  He is unlikely to get his wish though, it is quite possibly the worst nightmare he faces, especially with a General Election d-day looming ever closer.

The three-day strike this weekend is set to be followed by another four-day walkout from the 27^th March.  British Airways claim that 65% of passengers will still reach their destinations this weekend, but I think that is more of a hopeful, rather than a positive statement.  A total of 1,100 BA flights are expected to be cancelled during these strikes, with Heathrow and Gatwick airports obviously being the most affected airports.

The strikes are over the wages that cabin crew staff earn when employed by BA.  With the economic downturn still having its effects, British Airways had planned to cut their budget by 62.5million, which included reduction in their staffing wages.  Obviously, cabin crew have a right to feel annoyed, but I think they are forgetting the job they are doing, and though raising the issue or thinking of a more conventional plan with the management would have been a decent solution, striking was certainly the wrong answer.

Also, with news coming through last night that the railways possibly going on strike on a national basis, for the first time in 16 years over the Easter weekend after signal workers voted in favour of industrial action, also following employment issues, this time with cuts, the torment for people wanting to getaway could be able to get doubly worse. 

It looks like it could well be a miserable Easter for travellers, unless solutions in crisis meetings are found immediately, my advice would be to stay at home and avoid the chaos.