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British Airways axes 1,700 jobs
Tuesday, 07 Oct, 2009
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British Airways is to cut 1,700 jobs and reduce the number of crew on flights in an attempt to reduce its losses.
The airline, which lost £401m pre-tax last year, will also introduce a two-year pay freeze. It said the changes were vital and it expected to report a significant loss for the second year running.
The move has prompted fears of a strike, because there has been no agreement with Unite, the union that represents 14,000 cabin crew. Any strike would be likely to co-incide with Christmas because of the necessary consultation period before any action can take place.
British Airways head of UK and Ireland sales Richard Tams is a panellist on the luxury travel forum at the ABTA Convention tomorrow and is expected to face questions on the issue.
The airline has claimed that 1,000 staff wish to take voluntary redundancy and another 3,000 will switch to part-time work, which together is the equivalent of 1,700 jobs.
The number of crew on BA’s 57 747 aircraft will reduce from 15 to 14 from November 16. BA said service levels would not fall because the customer services director (CSD) on each flight, who until now has had a supervisory role, will serve passengers. However, this could be seen as a demotion for CSDs.
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