Jeez guys, didn't think we'd be THIS far down the path about it. It was a nice, potentially hypothetical scenario
But for everyones amusement, let me try and answer that
1. Are the crew in the same place as the call centres? They have call centres near/in LBA and MAN, the two biggest bases. They even have some homeworkers too (YES)
2. Do they want to do the job? Assuming we're only talking about the few, not the many (YES)
3. Are the skill sets the same? Both would have good communication skills, product/company knowledge and the company ethos, which i hear is pretty good. (NOT EXACTLY, BUT NOT A MILLION MILES OFF)
4. Are the employment terms the same? Inherently not, but...
- most are employed on fixed term basis, so this could possibly be stretched out (i'm no HR person so correct me if i'm wrong)
- difference in pay structure, call centre work is a steady wage + commission, as opposed to cabin crew who are paid only in the air + a flat rate + commission, might be a way round that?
- Company benefits...both still employees of the business, so a tick here
5. What ramifications are there for employment models elsewhere in the group? I wouldn't think many crew would go to any other department on a seasonal basis, so no knock on effects
6. Does temporary redeployment add to costs (in things like increased redundancy cost liability)?. Yes, but this would be outweighed by the reduction in repeat training/ uniform issue
7. To what extent are the call centres counter-seasonal to the airline? As a leisure airline, peak booking period is from Jan-Mar, peak flying period (when the cabin crew are needed most is Apr/May-Sep/Oct. No overlap, hence the counter-seasonal effect being the most benefit
As i said guys, it's just a theory (or a very small practice), no need to dig any deeper into this