24/04/2012
The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) has today said that there is growing anger within pilots at bmi Baby and bmi Regional that their futures are in the balance, that they are being kept in the dark, and that they are not allowed to engage with would-be buyers.
This comes after International Airlines Group (IAG) Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, said he was not confident of finding a buyer for the Baby and Regional parts of the business which they have just acquired from Lufthansa for a bargain price.
Jim McAuslan, BALPA General Secretary, said, ‘In the final days of the drawn-out sale, German-owned Lufthansa may have seen bmi pilots as peripheral, but we would expect UK-based IAG to take a different approach.
‘To be fair to IAG, they have been clear throughout that Baby and Regional do not form part of their long-term plans, but now that they are left holding the baby they should be thinking more creatively and treating pilots as grown-ups.
‘BALPA’s offer to potential buyers of these two companies remains open: we want to help you construct a successful business plan to secure the future of these companies. There is a pool of extraordinary talent there that does not feature on balance sheets, but which will be needed to turn these companies’ futures around. And our suggestion to IAG is: stand up for the UK and see UK pilots as part of the solution.’
BALPA | BA/BMI MERGER: GROWING ANGER