The Court of Appeal has upheld BA’s decision to cut cabin crew staffing levels on flights from Heathrow.
The Unite union had appealed against an earlier ruling in favour of the airline, claiming that BA had reduced staffing levels below that previously agreed through collective bargaining.
In November 2009 British Airways reduced the number of cabin staff on long-haul flights out of Heathrow from 15 to 14, a move which at least in part led to the escalation of strike action by BA’s Unite members. Cabin staff have taken part in a total of 22 days of strikes this year.
In a statement BA said:
“We are pleased with today’s Court of Appeal judgment, confirming that the modest changes we made to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow 12 months ago were reasonable, did not breach crew contracts and can remain in place.
“The changes have made a substantial contribution toward easing the company’s financial position, and our crew have accepted these working arrangements without difficulty.”
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Report by Mark Caswell
