Pilots, Like Doctors, should be kept well away from the nuts and bolts of running a business and confined to their narrow speciality field. Remunerate them over the odds by all means if it keeps them quiet, but pragmatism was never their strong suit in the face of business realities.

That said. They are right on this point. No matter how excellent the service in the air, Mr Walsh will coninue to let them down as a whole because he is their exact antithesis. He is running the airline like a balance sheet, it is failing, and we are now sick of it and him.

Lose the man - lose the problem.

Shocker, cambridge,

Unfortunately Terminal 5 was not thoughly tested before becoming operation, this is a case of cuttting costs Vs Risk. With the aviation industry being so compeditive BA have to cut costs and be inovative to stay at the top. The BA management have made a big mistake with Terminal 5, money not spent on thoughly testing the new Terminal doesnot compensate for the loss in cancelled flights, fines and reputation.

Mr Walsh should resign having aready taken responsibility for the continuing disaster.

Mike, Horsham, West Sussex/UK

Notwithstanding the problems they are having with T5, I always prefer to fly BA; they offer in my opinion the best service available; they are also very price competitive compared to the so-called budget airlines.

sonny, london,

I fly mainly for business and occasionally for pleasure. I've just had a trouble-free weekend in Rome courtesy of Easyjet (admittedly via BAA's Gatwick but with on-line check in I hardly had to meet a human being) - new Airbus, on time, pleasant crew, seats OK. BA's domestic and European short-haul flights out of Heathrow have been on the slide for years. I have lost count of the number of delays and cancellations I have suffered, prinicipally it seems because BA haven't bought a new plane since 1997 and the ones they've got simply break down all the time. The prices BA charge for seats on these old rust-buckets are extortionate. And I haven't checked in a bag with BA for years because when I'm on business I simply can't afford the hassle of missing or delayed luggage. The T5 experience is simply a very public and very large scale demonstration of the sort of crappy service BA has been offering us frequent flyers for years. And everyone thought I was making too much of a fuss...

Rob C, London,

I look forward to the day when this fiasco will appear as a case study in the management text books. What a shame they couldn't blame on the workers this time.
Will Willie be sacked in the hallowed tradition: with a monster payout?

robert HOLMES, Axbridge , England

It is one thing to run a flag carrier airline for a small country like Irish Republic and another thing to run a large privatised airline business like the BA. Willie Walsh when he was appointed sounded unconvincing to me and It is proved right. He simply does not have management skills to run a large enterprise like BA. He will not go now on his own volition and the major share holders should whisper in his ear. Otherwise, Heathrow and BA will lose whatever credibility left and business will go the Paris and Amsterdam.

Norman, LONDON,

Willie Walsh should be sacked and any bonuses due to him should be used to compensate passengers for his monumental mis-management of T5! Start the get rid of Willie Campaign now!

Ian Ungless, Leamington Spa, UK

BA are one of the best when you are actually in the air. They are one of the worst at getting you into the air and then back into the real world again with your luggage.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

I rarely support the actions of unions, but I fmust ully support the call from BALPA. The pilots must face the chaos that Willie Walsh has wrought every working day. Thankfully I only face it when I have to fly with British Airways.

Willie Walsh is damaging British Airways beyong repair. The spark and dynamism that the airline once had, has long gone. Surely the airline, and Britain,. can no longer afford to have this man at the helm.

He must resign, or be sacked.

Neil, London, Emgland

I was considering flying to the UK from Australia using BA, but I shall now use a first world airline such as the South Mallaccas

AB FOSSER, Brisbane, Australia

T5 is clear lesson for all that:
- BA managers are an overpaid bunch of fast talking executives who are capable organizing good lives only for themselves
- BAA is the same - only in totalitarian socialist countries one could find all major airports under one company
It is not acceptable that they cover their incredible stupidities with simple 'lessons are learned' because such 'learning' is too costly.
it is like giving to a monkey (no offense to monkeys) the most expensive car to drive, with excuses ready 'yes, it is disaster but lessons are learned'.

Savo, London, UK

I have great respect for BA piolts and would fly with them first if I could afford to, shareholders demands have devalued BA especially on the gounds of saftey, experienced BA piolts are not valued enough.

VJB, London,

Usually, I find BA an excellent operation, with good cabin crew, particularly on short haul. Anybody who believes that low cost outfits offer better service is simply ridiculous.
I note that a very Conservative bunch (BA pilots) who normally care not a jot for working people and are largely pro-Thatcher in outlook are suddenly becoming strong union people. What a bunch of hypocrites.

James, TWICKENHAM, UK

The time for saying the usual "we seek to learn a lesson from this" drivel is now long past. Heads must role at senior level, including up to the very top BA and BAA. This has been a clear case of preparation on the cheap. If not then it is a monstrous case of ineptitude and incompetence. Once again the UK has been made a laughing stock in the world, and the journeys of innocent passengers have been disrupted beyond any reasonable condition.

Let us not loose sight of the fact that BA and BAA have a duty of care towards their fay-paying passengers. They (BA & BAA) will seek to under play this fact at all times. It is for us the general public not to allow this to occur. BA and BAA should be fined for the disruption of services at Terminal 5. In addition a public guarantee of compensation should be made for all affected passengers. BA should be severely reprimanded for the fiasco of attempting to avoid paying for hotel rooms.

William, Preston,

I do think Willie's appointment was a mistake... he is a nice guy but the job is simply too big for him. Would it really have hurt to look at a bit of history and recognise that nearly all other major airline/airport moves were problematic (a call to his ex-Cathay Pacific predecessor re. the Hong Kong move, for example?)... but no, despite being warned there were issues, BA plowed on and moved 70% of the operation overnight - and got the PR machine in full-froth beforehand - simply stupid!
Having said that, BALPA are the mob who wanted pilots to be exempt from drug and alcohol testing and prevaricated so much the government eventually had to legislate.... Pilots always think they know how to run the airline better, usually with disastrous results - look at United, where they awarded themselves huge pay rises and bankrupted it... woops!
Willie probably does need to go, but not just because BALPA say so!

Frequent Flier, Heathrow, UK,

How much longer does the paying customer have to suffer for incompetent executives before any action is taken against their performance - They are paid very well to perform to the highest standards - When they fail, they should be fired plain and simple - Football managers are a prime example of what happens if they fail to deliver - Business executives should be treated the same - I refuse to travel via Heathrow and will definately not fly BA until they get their act together - BA shareholders should take note of my declaration, which I am sure I have the support of thousands of people who fly -

WTaylor, London, UK

I think BA is one of the best airlines around. Whenever i fly other airlines i very rarely find ones that are superior.

However, i am amazed at the problems with T5. If it had just been one day of porblem I think everyone would have put it down to experience and moved on, but the problem are continuing.

I hope this gets sorted out soon and BA can get back to providing the good service which is expected.

Rob, UK,

BA are a shambles. I no longer fly with them after a catalogue of problems including cancelled flights and losing my luggage on two occasions (both from terminal 1 at Heathrow). I am amazed people still fly with the airline, they are often more expensive than their competitors and their service is getting worse by the day.

Jeremy, Guildford,

There is no longer any accountability at the top of major companies or indeed within government. There is an expectation that failure will be rewarded - with a massive pay-off or a sideways move to a less challenging post.

Northern Rock costs the government (and therefore the people) millions of pounds to be bailed out - and the Chief Executive who oversees this debacle gets a massive pay-off.

The government oversees lost personal records by the million - nobody is responsible of course ... and so it goes on and on.

In the case of BA when Walsh upsets the most moderate group of workers in the company that speaks volumes. He has overseen mistake after mistake and will listen to no advice, not even from staff who can foresee problems like the terminal 5 debacle.

As a shareholder in the company I agree that his position is now untenable - he should resign NOW without any pay-off whatsoever. The major shareholders should take the lead on this issue NOW.

Mark, Newport,