British Airways is reportedly preparing to fire all its flight attendants, then rehire up to 75% of them at dramatically reduced pay.
A note shared by flight attendant Hannah Chapman on Facebook details British Airways’ intentions:
“On 15th June, I will be made redundant from the job I love after 15 years of loyal service. Redundancy notices are to be issued to 43,000 of my colleagues: the entire workforce. Yep, you heard right!
“31,000 “lucky” former employees will then be offered re-employement on a far inferior contract that the company has wanted to enforce since 2010. For me, this would represent a 60% pay cut. Again, you heard right!”
I won’t go into too much detail, but British Airways flight attendants are under three different contracts; one for shorthaul travel, one for longhaul travel, and a “mixed fleet” contract that was the result of BA’s last labor war in 2010. The “mixed fleet” crew is paid significantly less.
BA wants to fire all flight attendants, then rehire them at rates lower than the “mixed fleet crew” even makes. How much? £24,000/year for cabin crew and £32,000/year for cabin managers, according to One Mile at a Time. That includes per diem, which must be at least partially spent during layovers.
The new pay rates would represent a 50-75% drop for many senior crewmembers.
British Airways would not deny the letter, telling the UK Mirror:
“We are acting now to protect as many jobs possible. The airline industry is facing the deepest structural change in its history, as well as facing a severely weakened global economy.
“We are committed to consulting openly with our unions and our people as we prepare for a new future.”
Should British Airways Fire Flight Attendants? A Very Difficult Issue To Grapple With
I’m going to save my personal opinion on this for another post, because I am still formulating it. I welcome your thoughts below.
Part of me thinks it is grossly immoral to look someone in the eye who has given you 30 years of professional life and now say you must quit or take a huge paycut. The impact is huge: homes will have to be sold, children will have to go into student debt, and quality of life will be greatly diminished. It’s sad. Historically, flight attendants give up so much during bad times and receive so little back when times are good.
But is it wrong? Set aside the obscene compensation for top management for just a second. If tens of thousands would gladly take a job at £24,000/year (your odds of going to Yale or Harvard are better than becoming a flight attendant), then why isn’t there more downward pressure on pay? If you have so many people chasing so few positions, doesn’t it just make sense to hire those willing to do the same work for much less?
But the issue is even more complicated. As View from the Wing notes, British Airways received its Heathrow slots for free. Perhaps taking those back and putting those up for auction would give BA a taste of its own medicine. Perhaps the corporate socialism in the form of the £300 million low-interest loan BA just received from UK taxpayers is exhibit A that British Airways wants to have its cake and eat it too.
And more fundamentally, does British Airways want to build an airline based upon a revolving door of flight attendants who stay a few years for the glamour of it then find other work that pays better? Is there not great merit to longevity, when accompanied by performance standards?
CONCLUSION
Anyway, I’m still thinking through my own thoughts on this issue, but do want the whole world to see how British Airways is treating its cabin crews.
What are your thoughts on the coming labor war at British Airways?
image: British Airways
The quality of service will greatly deteriorate under this cost saving measure. Of course they will be able to fill those jobs but with people only having short term goals at BA. I personally know someone who went to Lufthansa before going to Uni just to get „paid“ travel. Those people can be passionate and excited but they will always lack the professionalism and routine one gets over time. Realistically nobody can life in the London area for 24k long term. Thus, I question BA‘s long term goal. The hard product is not overwhelming, the service will get worse so their sole competitive advantage is LHR. Realistically they will probably never pay for LHR slots but it’s an interesting thought.
It is not just cabin crew. It is all of BAs workforce.
They will all be made redundant on the 15th.
Two thirds of them will invited to interview for their old jobs on MASSIVELY reduced T&Cs which will leave them vulnerable to further draconian methods by the greedy board.
Thousands including their families will lose their incomes and for many their houses.
“do want the whole world to see how British Airways is treating it cabin crews.”
The world doesn’t care much, if at all. As long the price is good, the service decent, and the transit times aren’t too long (for those in transit), people will still keep flying.
I agree about having one Union as trying to grapple with contacts is mind boggling. Do not agree with much else. I work fir a company who makes us reapply for our jobs and it does not give us the benefits that BA staff have
These BA paycuts mirror the actions that have occured over the past 40 years in the United States. Airlines consolidated, jobs were lost, painful adjustments were made by many who were unable to afford the lifestyle they had known.
Well done the road of history, we find severely underpaid and poorly trained staff ill-equipped to retain the technical knowledge and skills needed to resolve the many issues that present themselves throughout most days of working in an airline operation.
BA had the same long and significant role in the success of their industry. Sadly they have arrived at this turning point.
Can’t wait to see all the Alex Cruz apologists come out of the woodwork to spin this into a positive for BA. Cruz is going to make BA as close to a LCC as he can, and a new Club World seat doesn’t change that. The improvements to Club World and lounges are akin to AA’s improvements to Flagship First while devaluing the rest of the brand.
Its worth clarifying, Matthew, that for UK residents “student debt” is not inherently bad because its only paid off when they earn above a certain threshold, they are never actively chased for it, and then written off entirely after 30 years.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes/
Good point. Thanks Phil.
This is so sad… inexperienced BA crew are not a patch on most veteran cabin crew who are a delight to deal with and are the reason BA is still worth flying. Fight the power! If it goes bad, I for one will be off to Star Alliance or Skyteam quick sharp.
Why is it always the frontline workers who take the pain in bad times? Why can’t they fire all the management and re-hire them back! How about go bankrupt and gives the stockholders some pain. A company has to have some resemblance of loyalty to the workers. I think a pay cut for all employees is in order, but you can’t just fire everyone and bring them all back at entry level pay. There is a reason that the more senior employee is paid more due to the experience and training gained through the years
As a 50 year flight attendant with a major US based carrier I thank you for mentioning experience having value. With my company, re any medical or behavioral situation, ‘if you find it – you own it’. The first crew member to discover or be made aware of a situation is the one to handle it. Others assist, of course, I have been in many situations discovered by very nice, young, junior, hard-working flight attendants that ‘lost it’. Panic, tears, fear – they either had to be removed from the area or their behavior would have caused more problems. It was not intentional but it happened. Sadly I have experienced several passengers losing consciousness and eventually their lives on my flights. Their family members and other passengers usually and understandably become very upset. Such experiences are difficult for everyone. Having a flight attendant lose control exacerbates the situation. Between our annual refresher training and on-the-job experience some of us are better prepared than others. Yes, the plane lands as soon as possible once details are shared with the Captain and then with company via radio and deemed the appropriate action. The time between discovery and deplaning of the involved passenger(s) is usually not very long yet when someone’s life is on-the-line it seems to take forever. Experience is always beneficial.
As a British person, and as a person who is on the political left of Britain (nevermind the US) this one is a conflicting one for me.
On the one hand – what BA is proposing – ie most Flight Attendants earning £24k a year (and being liable for some downroute costs), based out of a London airport, is absurd and absolute poverty wages – and only a tenable wage for a small amount of 22yrs old folks living with their parents in Surrey whilst they see the world — ie, absolutely not a solution for BA to staff their fleet with,
On the other hand – the most legacy of legacy crew, 25+ year veterans are taking the P**S. Even living near London, a £60K+ salary, for a cabin crew who meets their monthly hours with two trips a months is a joke.
The problem here is the classic US Union vs Company debate, with neither side having a sensible position.
The current veteran BA crew are wildly overpaid, but also the corporate proposal and mixed fleet current pay is a joke and at least 10k a year less than they should get.
But will they be able to meet in a sensible middle? I doubt it.
£60K+ salary in the London area is overpaid?
No one makes 60k a year only flying 2 trips a mth..
you are so wrong on that point!
I’m a FA with a major carrier and I barely make over that with a full schedule!!
Overpaid? Mr. Walsh gets over 800000plus 3.2 million in one year alone. I don’t criticise crew that are paid £60000. Why don’t I see people complaining about the big wages?
Just prior to COVID-19 my brother-in-law, after much agonizing, opted for a generous early retirement package from British Airways. He was a Cabin Service Director, having started his career as a flight attendant with BA 33 years ago.
We talked on the phone today and he is so relieved and thankful that he got out “just in the nick of time!” While he loved his job, he felt the writing was on the wall. The future of BA was only going to be grim under the company’s heartless management. Thankfully his locked-in pension is excellent; he just feels so very sorry for his friends still flying.
And to think that years ago, when I was flying for Northwest Airlines, I was so envious of my brother-in-law flying for British Airways – at that time one of the world’s best airlines!
It will become a revolving door. Some young people may still be attracted to the job, but only for a short period rather than a long term career. It’s impossible to live with any dignity , security, comfort on the salary levels contemplated…as a single, let alone the idea of family.
It already is a revolving door. The younger Mixed Fleet crew don’t stay long… there’s no serious path there. Some of them do a great job, and others not so much. It’ll just be more of a race to the bottom.
If BA proceeds, the British Government should remove all Heathrow slots from all operators, and then run an auction for a ten year lease on them. If the staff can take the hits, so can the shareholders.
I’ve got to wonder how much a “revolving door” employee plan will affect safety. Having come from very modest means, and now being lucky enough to generally be able to buy business class, I generally don’t get the feeling of entitlement in regard to service as many who are more accustomed to it do.
That said, for me, (1) the treatment and absolute disregard of loyalty to its frontline workers, and (2) the impact this could have on safety, makes flying BA a non-starter for me.
Unbelievable that the government gave a loan to British Airways, but still not Virgin Atlantic (unless I missed news of that happening)
I think BA wants -and worse, expects- the best of all all worlds. They want to keep their stranglehold on Heathrow slots, which is obviously a legacy government subsidy. While enjoying this invaluable asset, BA wants to pay poverty wages to people who have spent decades in loyal service to the company. Disgraceful doesn’t begin to cover this. What’s worse, BA has repeatedly stated that the company has lots of money and is in no danger. In that case there’s no reason to destroy their loyal long time employees. They could instead simply furlough the newest hires.
If the singularly unpleasant management team at BA wants to show that what they’re proposing is reasonable, all they have to do is to have the executives and board members abide by the same pay and benefit terms that they propose for flight attendants. A year of living off 24,000 pounds -at most- for an entire family would show that management is right and employees are wrong. Otherwise they should simply say that they couldn’t care less about loyal staff and they only care about shareholders and executive compensation.
Sadly, this is just another symptom of a formerly world class airline taken over by an unscrupulous and immoral management team. Remember “Show Me The F—–g Money” projection from the shareholder event? Just another example.
I only fly BA because of the service, but it has declined severely over the last few years and now I know why the young crews are not as good. I now will choose another airline if this happens very disappointing the CEO should resign.
Alex Cruz is part of this, but I suspect this is really the work of IAG chief Willie Walsh.
As Richie Sunak is shortly going to make companies pay 25 t0 30% 0f furloughed wages, companies will soon start to make millions redundant. If British Airways deal is that the 70% taken back on would have a guaranteed job, I would jump at the chance, not perfect but try living on social security.
The issue with this and many other situations where the terms of employment are changed is this. If you sign on with a company, you’ve made an informed decision to accept a certain rate of pay, a certain package of benefits, a certain path towards promotion, and a specific set of working conditions. Now, certainly, situations exist where it’s necessary to change some or all of that because of business needs. But to do it unilaterally, drastically, and while executives are not being asked to take functionally similar cuts is immoral. To ride the back of an unprecedented crisis to make such a change in a way that would be effectively permanent is actively evil.
Outrageous, cruel decisions made by a greedy board of directors and a blood thirsty crowd of shareholders..
Hope you never have a good nights sleep again.again in your lives
Yes Kirk H. Just another money grab by airlines which will never compensated again even when the airlines start doing well again and making billions which will happen. Just another example of big business making excuses to rob the working class of what they need to survive.
given the low income that most ppl are going to suffer from in the coming years (as the reality and fundamentals of this mess start becoming more apparent) the more ppl won’t care about what an airline is doing in terms of staff pay. All they will care about is a good price and a safe flight. as long as airlines are not seen compromising on safety (aircraft and health given covid concerns) and the price is competitive, ppl will continue to fly that airline. Service is now going to be non existent in most airlines hence suddenly SQ and BA have similar lines of service = none. Business class travellers will still fly based upon aircraft seat (esp long haul) – here is where BA will suffer the most. Dorm rooms in covid era are a no go.
Depends on how well BA can utilize their new reverse-herringbone suites.
The problem BA (and all the other existing airlines) face is that they are stuck paying for a fleet which isn’t flying. As they race to downsize their fleets, some new upstart airlines will be formed which pay their crews poorly, using the dumped aircraft they got for cheap on the secondary market. They won’t have had to pay airplane lease or ingest charges, gate lease charges and redundancy charges. How, as a legacy carrier, can one prepare to compete in that environment?
Employee profit sharing is one option, so when the airline starts to do better, that employees get paid better. The employees then also have a stake in making sure the customers are treated well, so they don’t jump to the new carriers that will be coming.
I think the time has come when people should realise the need of self reliant instead of looking for a career Into these firms who are running cos of we and when the get hit they pass it it to us, offer all the top 40 position no pay for a year , and I am sure their wages and bonus will save all others jobs, but see we have to learn that let’s start inspiring our coming generations to become self reliant, so let these companies find the solutions that bosses should come and start serving in flights while taking millions as bonuses
I feel desperately sorry for the British Airways staff caught up in this horrendous situation. I worked as a flight attendant for a US airline for 45 years. Seniority was sacrosanct so when a lay-off was necessary it was done in seniority order, The more junior flight attendants going first and then being called back as and when they were needed when things improved and new fa’s were needed. Pay cuts happened along the way during 45 years but they were coupled with a new contract where a new pay scale emerged which meant your salary increased slowly on a new scale as the crisis passed. Flight attendants were not happy with all this but that is how it was. The idea that a flight needs four pursers and a CSD is outdated and should be taken out. In the US there is only a Purser to manage the flight. There should only be one Union. Two Unions divide the membership and causes split loyalties. There should be one fleet and one pay scale and a flexible bid system for flying. As I see it the Unions and their awkwardness to not modernise this airline and its scheduling must take some of the blame here. Walsh wants blood and the Pandemic has made it easy for him. All this of course is my humble opinion.
#BAbetrayal
BA betrayal.com
This is Walsh’s personal vendetta against a union that has frequently stood against his corporate greed.
He is cynically using the pandemic to exact some payback before he leaves on his gold plated retirement plan.
BA could afford to weather this storm if they so choose.
It’s immoral and corporate greed of the highest order.
So, are the big boys of corporate office getting a pay cut of 50-75% too?
Are they saying No to their yearly millionaire bonuses?
Will they care if the quality of service goes down?
If their employees suffer financially or if they have been loyal for decades?
I doubt it.
There are better ways to find a solution butGreed always interferes.
This is awful Big management does not suffer but the rank and file losses in this situation. I feel for the cabin crew having a flight attendant in the family who is on furlough from Air Canada. This stinks
It saddens me to say but, after years of loyalty to BA, they seem to be rolling up the welcome carpet these days. Despite the obvious COVID pandemic problems, during the last 18 months, 4 of my booked BA long haul flights have been cancelled without an explanation leaving me to (successfully) book with another airline at short notice. It has reached the point where I now tend to look for another airline and only consider BA as a secondary option. It pains me to do this since I do prefer to ‘fly the flag’ but the uncertainty makes that less of a first thought.