Just a few FACTS about Gatwick
BA and EasyJet are Gatwick's two dominant resident airlines. EasyJet was formed in 1995 at Luton and started operations at LGW in 2001. EasyJet is the second largest UK low cost airline behind Ryanair.
In late 2007, BA and Easyjet accounted for 25% and 17% of Gatwick's slots. EasyJet's share of slots subsequently rose to 24% as a result of its takeover of BA franchise carrier GB Airways which accounted for 7% of slots.
The acquisition of GB Airways in March 2008 resulted in EasyJet becoming Gatwick's biggest short-haul operator accounting for 29% of short-haul passengers (ahead of BA's 23%) and Gatwick's largest airline overall, with flights to 62 domestic and european destinations (at April 2008).
By late 2008, EasyJet's share of Gatwick slots had grown to about 26%, while Flybe (15% owned by British Airways as a consequence of the Flybe acquisition of BA Connect) had become Gatwick's third-largest slot-holder accounting for 9% of the airport's slots, as well as its fastest-growing airline.
EasyJet has now further reinforced its position as Gatwick's leading airline by increasing the number of destinations served from the airport to 82. Gatwick is the airline's largest base, where its 10 million passengers per annum account for almost 30% of the airport's yearly total.
From a peak of 40% in 2001, BA's share of Gatwick slots declined by 50% to 20% in summer 2009.
SFG (Single Fleet Gatwick) cabin crew and indeed all BA staff at LGW are on a package close to the market rate. Trading conditions at LGW are tough and the company operation there must remain competitive or BA will surely walk away.
To some of my cabin crew colleagues at LHR, welcome to the world of aviation in 2010, the golden days have certainly gone but you were asked to give up so little in the current climate. Standing still is actually moving backwards and this episode means that we are not even standing still at Heathrow so the longer this goes on the worse the end result will be for us all.