The reason BA didn’t love Gatwick is because BA was a full service airline offering connections, had in house engineering and handling and also various franchise partners. All were additional costs against almost everyone else at LGW. So whereas BA could command a LHR premium, they couldn’t do the same at LGW. The way to profitability was to cut, slash and simplify. The hub went, handling was outsourced, engineering was cut way back. The “hand me down” fleet ex LHR was supplemented by 3rd hand A320s, something of first for BA. Hence they seemed to get into the black on point to point leisure routes, all of which are actually non core to everything at LHR. Overlap and duplication is the first to go in a travel slump, followed by routes that don’t support the wider strategy (feeding US long haul at LHR, and yes that’s also screwed).

I think the V shaped recovery wasn’t an option for travel. I said months ago this summer was lost, the winter is lost too, any bounce back will be next summer. So it makes no business sense to fly what was already a greatly pruned short haul winter program in this worst of winters out of LGW.

Also worth remebering, easyJet are also in a horrible place, everyone is.

The scope agreement would prohibit CFE operating from Gatwick for any length of time. I think the removal of that would be redline for BALPA and rightly so.

G-LCYP operating to the Med out of Luton today?

This is a one-off charter, and will position back to NWI.

F1 Charter to Girona

I overheard a conversation in my dry cleaners which brought home the sad results of Covid 19 on BA. There was a gentleman in front of me on Sat who was a BA LH Captain who had flown back from SA early last week, and was told the following day that he was being made redundant after 30+ years with BA. He felt a little cheated as he did want to carry on for a while longer, but also because he did not know that was to be his last flight, and there was no Fire engine salute or anything to mark it, which I have to say I totally sympathise with him about. If he had at least known, as he said he would have savoured it more.

Kind regards
Mr Mac

I am afraid there are many 1000 s of us in the same situation as him
No last flight or able to say goodbye properly ( 37yrs and just hand back your uniform )

The fire brigade would be permanently at the end of the runway for years seeing everyone off !!

A truly disgraceful way to end our careers from a very disgraceful company which they have turned out to be

Wow... First World Problems.

I guess it’s subjective to some extent depending on where in the company you sit and how the process has been. There are colleagues leaving after 40+ years in the business. If BA are as bad as everyone is saying they are though and if they are such a disgrace then probably best not working for them anyway.

It is sad that many staff didn’t get to say their goodbyes but I believe it’s probably the case in several companies right now sadly.

There are tens of thousands of people losing their jobs across the UK. Yes, that includes people with high levels of education who've kept their nose clean and done the right thing for their employer for years

I very much doubt much of the UK really cares if somebody who has had a well paid job for 30 years gets laid off. There is no magic to pilots which means they have a right not to be laid off like others

And yet here you are... 🙄

Rogueone / david johnson6
I take your point about the fire engine thing, but it was done before Covid 19 as you should know. However you would have thought that the HR Dept would be able to tell someone before there flight that it would indeed be their last one before retirement or redundancy, or were they worried how that would impact on said pilots train of thought. I would have thought that given that you have trusted the individual to fly your A/C for 30 + years without incident, in no doubt some difficult conditions you would at least be able to do that. I hope when or if I have to let any of my employees go due to Covid I make a better fist of it than that . Indeed over my career it has been done to me, and I have had in the past had to let people go, but it does not say much for the expensive HR training carried out on people in that department throughout industry that the best they can do was that which was imparted last week.

Kind regards
Mr Mac

I know BA are getting a kicking over it's attitude to employees but TBH I'm struggling with that story (I'm not doubting what you heard Mr Mac, just doubt that you got or were given the whole story because it smells slightly of BS)....

AFAIK no pilots that senior in BA have been made compulsory redundant..so far that has only happened the bottom 250 pilots plus/minus, who in the main joined BA in the last year or two.

If he'd applied for Voluntary Redundancy he would have known what was in store and FWIW I don't know anybody who only got one days notice - in any event I certainly wouldn't label that as being "made" redundant

BA haven't routinely "done" fire arches for retirements for years - if at all in living memory at LHR, I've certainly never witnessed ones on the retirement trips I've been involved with. The best you'll get these days is a picture handed to you in crew report by a manager...

In current circumstances with hundreds of pilots leaving either forced or voluntarily over the next few days and weeks I doubt even a picture will be handed out.

Who would want a photo/picture with the manager that effectively "sacked" them anyway?

Wiggy
As I said I take the point re fire arches but I have seen it done for other retiring pilots for other carriers at other airports, but as I said I do not know if BA did this as I no longer use BA or indeed LHR very much now, but he mentioned it. The gentleman said he had 30+ years with BA and had come back from SA on Monday last week, and was then made redundant, as he did not know it was to be his last flight it did not sound like voluntary redundancy to me, as normally you would apply for that beforehand so would know presumably that this would be your last trip. Anyway I sympathise with those losing their jobs, and indeed those having retirement forced upon them regardless as to how well off they have been, as these are people with hopes and dreams just like everybody else, and it did not sound like the way you would like to round out your career.

Kind regards
Mr Mac

I think the HR team are a tad bit busy to be emailing airports notifying them of a Pilot’s last flight. I mean I don’t expect to get dowsed in water when I leave a job. It was a nice thing to do in the past but times are changing.

People were being called on their mobile phones while making their way to work last week, made redundant. No last day to say good bye to your mates, just not allowed back in.
Two days later, the phone calls were along the lines of "very sorry but we made a mistake, can you come back in please?"
Nuts!

I have heard of it happening very rarely at one or two of the BA outstations if the captain involved had been a regular visitor over they years, other than that it wasn't SOP.

Once upon a time a proper pilot manager would actually come on board the aircraft on arrival at LHR and give the retiring captain a thank you hand shake, usually done in First Class with the crew present..that died out for various reasons. For while after that there was no "ceremony" at all. In recent years there has been a bit of an attempt to restore some respectability with the picture taking I mentioned earlier.

Well FWIW I'm another 30+ year Long Haul captain in BA, currently going through the back end of the voluntary redundancy (VR) process and I didn't realise when I stepped off the aircraft for the last time a few months back that it was my last trip...it's very easily done and the same has happened to a lot of pilots at BA (and probably elsewhere)...sadly some of them don't know it yet..

At BA many pilots had rosters decimated as flights were cancelled due to poor passenger loads, that then resulted with many only maintaining recency by use of the simulator. Offer of VR comes along, and bingo, for many, self included, that's it.....You end up waiting for the exit date and your last sector is a distant memory.

As for the conversation you overheard - Knowing first hand how both the Voluntary Redundancy process and (by word of mouth) how the Compulsory redundancy process for pilots has been done at BA I'm really really struggling to work out the mechanism by which a 30+ year captain can suddenly find himself in the situation you heard described i.e. Operated a Long Haul trip, day later told he's being laid off....There simply has to be more to it...

It's quite common in large companies that an employee comes to work as usual one day, receives a phonecall from their manager asking them to come to a meeting room where HR are present (act as witness and ensure process is followed strictly in case employee decides to sue for unfair dismissal), pre-prepared "consultation" papers are handed over, employee is escorted to their desk to put belongings in cardboard box and then escorted off premises. Phonecall to walking out the building in 20 mins. No sympathy, no support, just HR following a process

Most managers when told "you must cut 30% of cost of employees reporting to you or we will get rid of you as well" will usually happily come up with a list of names to be given a P45

BA HR will think the same way as HR at any other large company - loyalty means nothing to HR when they have to cut 30% of costs and you are just one of a long list of names in a spreadsheet.

That can't be right - it would involve HR actually getting involved, rather than just dumping it onto managers. Surely they'd have important meetings to attend, etc.?