4.8%?!?! What are you complaining about, we've been capped (public sector) at 2%!! If you want pay in the same region as BA, join BA! It's as simple as that!

Ross, Huntingdon, England

How much of a pay rise are the cabin crew wanting? 10%, 20%?
Do Virgin Atlantic tell their employees of the pay+benefits when they join? If so I agree with RB if your not happy with your pay find a job that does make you happy.

I Jones, London,

It is unfortunate that no one has actually mentioned the salary of a member of cabin crew. I think if this was more widely known, most would be shocked that strikes werent a regular occurance. A tribute to the professionalism of the staff I would say.

Dave, London, UK

I fly Virgin exclusively because the cabin crew and service beats BA by miles

james, london,

most people in the airline industry work localy in areas where little other work is available,so why hit the public at holiday time what are you going to do if your out of work,the days of strikes are long gone,thank god

malcolm victor brooks, london, united kingdom

Well if we all got another Job cause were not happy then there would be no crew , Not a wise thing to say really.

Strike is going to happen cause the pay is terrible , Less than easy jet , Were sick of giving excellent service and having no reward.

Pay up , Pay up , It's only going to get worse , Some managers in the office need to get the boot as they are well paid and do NOTHING !!! , Half the managers do not manage anyone and are all quick to pass the buck , Something has to give and it has to be middle management , Good BYE Fat Cats !!!

Peter, Crawley, UK

a considerable proportion of cabin crew have not only been with the company more than 15 years but have supported them through many tough times (gulf war and 9/11) and take the roles extremely seriously. This is not some part time job and so should be honoured as a serious career for most. I am shocked at the jurassic stereotyping of cabin crew from some of the comments on this forum. It is time for the nation to wake up and smell the coffee (pardon the pun) and support a well needed and deserved change in thinking!! After all now we are handcuffing some passengers to their seats because of there outrageous behavior. The company should offer danger money to boot!

fed up, london,

Cabin crew may be well skilled and trained to deal with everything you say, i don't dispute any of that, but at the end of the day, accepting a job which is historically known for poor pay is the fault of the individual, not the airline.

You are missing the point completely, why would someone accept a job at VA if pay was so poor? I'm sure VA pays better than Ryanair or Easyjet (excluding the Virgin Group benefits available to staff) or a whole host of other airlines.

You get a job offer and the salary is told to you. Its up to the individual to accept the salary or not. If they accept it and the job, then how can they then argue? As has been pointed out, the role of cabin crew is well known, so why would anyone want to do it, if it was poorly paid? You cant take it and then suddenly complain about it. Try working in the real world!

Jeff, Reading,

Being cabin crew may not be 'rocket science' in your opinion, but that is because you have no idea what the training/job actually involves! Cabin crew save lives. They are not only there to serve passengers but are primarily there for safety! They are trained fire fighters, first aiders (inc cpr and defib trained), and with the terrorist situation of today have an even more difficult job than ever! They do all this with jet lag, long periods of no sleep and a smile on their face, whilst getting abused on more and more occasions! They should be paid so much more to reflect this!!

Catherine, Bristol, england

Typical rubbish from a trade unionist, but you learn to accept this. If someone working for BT gets paid less than someone at Vodafone doing the same job, they dont strike until they get a pay rise, THEY LEAVE, like all sensible people do.

Why should Virgin staff get the same as BA? look at the mess BA staff caused over the plans to restructure BA's pay bands which are historically high (another unionised mess).

Being a flight attendance, has not, and will never be a well paid job - its not rocket science, its a basic customer service role. Customer service roles (e.g. bank staff, receptionists, call centres) all pay poorly. Its a fact.

Virgin offered a pay settlement to staff, the union accepted it, the staff did not. Well guess what? In the words of Jeremy Kyle - GET A (new) JOB!

Collective bargaining under trade unions is a scurge on society. Virgin is not a public sector employer. It's a private enterprise, if staff dont like it, tough. Leave.

Jeff, Reading,