It's using the crisis as the basis for a massive 'land grab' and the ability to push through a full 'wish list' combination using the Covid 19 crisis as cover.
The Cabin Crew letter is, in my opinion, frankly brutal. They know that they will chop the majority of WW and EF crew with this. There is little or no way that those employees on those contracts will do the same work for the remuneration given by what will effectively be 'the Gatwick' contract. The demise of the service industries across the UK will give rise to a willing flow of applicants who can be easily and quickly trained up to become part of this new, 'efficient' workforce. Again, nothing they could have pushed through without the pandemic as the available group of recruits wouldn't have been there or simply wouldn't accept a slave driven, zero hours contract. Totally opportunistic.
As for Schedule K and Gatwick, it doesn't take much of a leap to see what WW is after especially given his interest in Norwegian in the past. Kill off Schedule K, as called for already, close down the base at Gatwick, hostile buyout of NAS UK operation. Repaint, re-brand as British Airways Holidays and you have a set up SH/LH hub and spoke operation using new 737's and 787's. Add in the ability to restructure the debt down to 1-1.5% and the already existing BA back office and services structure and you have a neat, cheap low-cost holiday carrier branded in BA colours. Only if you can get rid of that pesky Scheduling agreement though.
The rest is all the 'stuff' that as annoyed the senior management for years as they pick and choose what parts of the 'legacy' agreements suit their current agenda. Absence and sickness management? A desperately needed amendment during a pandemic!
Even O'Leary reckons the SH market will recover within 2 years and he's normally the pessimistic one! So El Macho claiming 'several' years for LH whilst all the business travelers are already fed up working from home with Skype/Zoom/Team etc. and missing their lunches, dinners, bars and expense accounts during meetings seems more targeted toward scaremongering the staff than reality. He's never had the business acumen to see that far forward so why start now?
BA provided almost 80% of IAG's combined profit last financial year. What a great idea going forward this won't be. Relationship reset? Well I suppose it is in a way.
