[capetonianm]

British Airways Tragedy: Ex-Crew Member Takes His Own Life as Mass Redundancy Threat Looms

A long-serving member of British Airways cabin crew died by suicide on Thursday according to a union boss who also revealed details about another BA crew member suffering a mental breakdown and a third who went missing after posting a ‘goodbye’ message to friends, family and loved ones. The tragic death of the unnamed crew member comes just days before British Airways is set to fire its entire 42,000 strong workforce and then selectively rehire 30,000 of its employees on much-reduced terms and conditions.

This may not be an accurate report, but no smoke without fire, and I have two friends who are BA employees who are extremely anxious and depressed about their future, and one, at the end of his career path, who is delighted at the thought of leaving what has become a toxic working environment in a company run by uncaring, incompetent, and mercenary top management.

2 users thanked author for this post.

handbag, speedbird1969

[openfly]

Scathing discussions for one hour with regard to British Airways disgraceful behaviour in Parliament today. Not a single member supporting them.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=999802]This may not be an accurate report, but no smoke without fire,[/quote]

The smoke reeks of Cruz and Walsh cynicism, and the fire , if there is one , will have the stench of the corpse of a once great business.

[FaroFlyer]

[postquote quote=999891][/postquote]

Many years ago I had an employee commit suicide in the factory while I was MD, with 100 employees. He was worried about his future and the future of the company. Did anybody blame me? No, neither individuals nor the union. Did I feel sorry, yes, very sorry. Did I feel guilty, no.

As to BA being a corpse it, is still one of the stronger airlines and a significant part of a strong group. If the definition of a “once great business” is as it was when it was a bloated, state owned business, then I am happy that I now only pay to support it when I fly, not subsidising it through taxes.

[canucklad]

Hi FaroFlyer

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m sure that BA will continue to satisfy its shareholder’s and the city for years to come.
I also don’t view BA through nostalgic tinted spectacles. BA was without doubt our Air France.

Sadly, I’m also realistic to know that BA ( like many others) will have many more so called Zombie jobs than they will be able to maintain . And as such , the quicker these Zombie employees are identified and removed the better for us as tax payers

However it is one of Britain’s leading 100 companies, and due to its historic past , has arguably a position of elevated influence in our business community
Therefore it’s reasonable to expect, its current incumbent management team as custodians of the brand should act in a manner that befits a proud British brand. However if the report is close to the truth, they’re acting more like a dodgy white van man cowboy builders outfit, that you wouldn’t let build an outside shed, never mind run a global airline.

As always, fashion fades but style is eternal and I’m afraid those gentleman at BA are definitely in the former category !

1 user thanked author for this post.

PhilipHart

[mkcol74]

It may already have been said but I can’t see – is BA CityFlyer included in this mass redundancy, or is it mainline only?

[Johnnyg]

LATEST RE BA in today’s Times update, can’t see it happening but it’s a nice threat !!

Coronavirus: British Airways could lose grip on Heathrow because of redundancies
new
Graeme Paton, Transport Correspondent
Wednesday June 03 2020, 5.00pm, The Times

British Airways could lose its grip on the country’s biggest airport because of mounting anger over plans to make a quarter of its workforce redundant.
The aviation minister indicated today that the government would review lucrative take-off and landing slots at Heathrow.
Kelly Tolhurst agreed that the carrier should “pay a price” for its plan to lose 28 per cent of its workforce while accepting tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money under the government’s job retention scheme.

BA, Easyjet and Virgin Atlantic have all announced plans to cut jobs after being devastated by the collapse in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In April, BA said it planned to make 12,000 staff redundant across the airline as well as overseeing a major restructuring exercise that could include pay cuts and changes to terms and conditions. It is designed to put the airline on a more stable footing amid warnings that pre-covid levels of passenger demand will not return until at least 2023.
The move has angered MPs after the airline furloughed 23,000 staff under the job retention scheme, which pays 80 per cent of wages up to £2,500 a month. It emerged last week that the airline received £35 million from the initiative in April alone, which amounted to 17 per cent of its average monthly wage bill.
Speaking today, Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the transport select committee, said BA was the “only airline who is effectively sacking its entire 42,000 workforce and replacing it with 30,000 jobs on inferior terms”.

“It’s ethically outrageous that our national flag-carrier is doing this at a time when the nation is at its weakest and when we expect the country to do its bit,” he told the Commons.
Mr Merriman called on the government to ask the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an “urgent review into reallocating lucrative landing slots at Heathrow from companies like British Airways who indicate they are downsizing and perhaps hand those to those companies who wish to expand”.
The government and the CAA has no direct involvement in slot allocation, which is managed by an independent body, Airport Coordination Limited, following EU rules. However, the government will gain more control over the process at the end of year when the UK is due to come to the end of the Brexit transition period.

Slots — which give an airline the right to take off and land at a certain time — can be worth several millions of pounds at Heathrow. BA has 51 per cent of slots at the moment including many of the most lucrative such as those between London and JFK airport in New York.
In response, Ms Tolhurst confirmed that this was “something that I will be looking at”.

“We want airport landing and take-off slots to be used as effectively as possible for UK consumers and as the UK aviation market recovers from the impact of this terrible disease I want to ensure that the slot allocation process encourages competition and provides connectivity so this is something that I will be looking at,” she said.
“I have already outlined that there are opportunities moving forward as we work through coronavirus and move to the end of December and I am quite willing to look at anything that can benefit and open up and increase the competition in our aviation sector.”

Jerome Mayhew, the Conservative MP for Broadland in Norfolk, asked the minister if BA should “pay a price” for a breach of faith over the way it has used the furlough scheme. “Yes,” she replied.
In a statement, BA insisted that its redundancy proposals were at an early stage and subject to consultation with unions.

“We are acting now to protect as many jobs as possible,” the company said. “The airline industry is facing the deepest structural change in its history, as well as facing a severely weakened global economy.

“We call on Unite and GMB to consult with us on our proposals as our pilot union, Balpa, is doing. Working together we can protect more jobs as we prepare for a new future.”

[Jamseyboy]

This is really depressing. On the one hand, BA wants to survive inspite of all the trouble with Covid-19 although it will take them years to really bounce back. On the other hand the future of those losing their jobs, future etc. I have some flights with BA still booked in the 4.Qrt. of this year,curious to see and talk with FAs about it. What would the atmosphere be like??

[Author]

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