CREW_INOP
22nd Sep 2002, 13:20
The Xmas bonus (or holiday supplement) which was belatedley paid to staff in May of this year is to be taken back from a small minority of Pilots believed to be based only at Gatwick.
BA was never contractually oliged to pay the supplement to short-haul Gatwick based pilots with less than two years employment, however it has always done so in more recent years. On occasions in the past the bonus, equivalent to one weeks basic salary (average £450 before tax), was paid in error but wasn't recovered because it was such a relatively small amount.
The pilot's affected are mainly 737 First Officers on Basic salaries of no more than £27,000pa. The majority of those are Cadet Entry Pilots who have that salary further reduced by £3000 to cover their own training costs.
Most of the pilots affected came through BA's Cadet Scheme. On completion of training they were directed to fly B737's from LGW while friends on the same courses were directed to fleets at LHR. Although the fleet allocations were involuntary, those at LHR of similar seniority are entitled to the payment.
This is one of many ways in which BA discriminates against it's Gatwick based pilots. LGW based pilots recieve lower expenses payments, and can work longer days that those at LHR. LGW pilots are entitled to less overnight rest that those at LHR, and are normally accommodated in poorer hotels with little or no local amenities. Complaints about lack of rest due to noise/temperature problems are usually dismissed by the company. Up to now high spirits have meant services still operate safely and as efficiently as possible.
The same also applies to LGW based cabin crew, who have recently been resigning in droves to work for other airlines, change jobs completely, or simply out of stress due to extremely long working days, uncomfortable conditions and low salary.
Moral amongst all staff has hit an all time low, with engineers considering industrial action due to location disputes, and huge understaffing in the terminal; including check in agents and boarding staff; resulting in huge delays.
Statistics for some months of 2002 have shown that BA's Terminal 1 at LHR had thousands less passengers to deal with than the North Terminal at LGW, however Gatwick had approximately half the number of customer service staff to deal with them.
Recent PAX loads ex-LGW show that customers like to use the airport. It has a large catchment area and is easily accessible by both road and rail. Whilst low fares are attracting customers initially, low moral and lack of staff means that BA cannot offer the customer service it's reputation requires. News that the low-cost operators will welcome.
Perhaps BA needs to transform the issue of morale into a language it's accountants who run the compnay can understand.
Happy staff=good customer service=happy punters=£££££.
BA was never contractually oliged to pay the supplement to short-haul Gatwick based pilots with less than two years employment, however it has always done so in more recent years. On occasions in the past the bonus, equivalent to one weeks basic salary (average £450 before tax), was paid in error but wasn't recovered because it was such a relatively small amount.
The pilot's affected are mainly 737 First Officers on Basic salaries of no more than £27,000pa. The majority of those are Cadet Entry Pilots who have that salary further reduced by £3000 to cover their own training costs.
Most of the pilots affected came through BA's Cadet Scheme. On completion of training they were directed to fly B737's from LGW while friends on the same courses were directed to fleets at LHR. Although the fleet allocations were involuntary, those at LHR of similar seniority are entitled to the payment.
This is one of many ways in which BA discriminates against it's Gatwick based pilots. LGW based pilots recieve lower expenses payments, and can work longer days that those at LHR. LGW pilots are entitled to less overnight rest that those at LHR, and are normally accommodated in poorer hotels with little or no local amenities. Complaints about lack of rest due to noise/temperature problems are usually dismissed by the company. Up to now high spirits have meant services still operate safely and as efficiently as possible.
The same also applies to LGW based cabin crew, who have recently been resigning in droves to work for other airlines, change jobs completely, or simply out of stress due to extremely long working days, uncomfortable conditions and low salary.
Moral amongst all staff has hit an all time low, with engineers considering industrial action due to location disputes, and huge understaffing in the terminal; including check in agents and boarding staff; resulting in huge delays.
Statistics for some months of 2002 have shown that BA's Terminal 1 at LHR had thousands less passengers to deal with than the North Terminal at LGW, however Gatwick had approximately half the number of customer service staff to deal with them.
Recent PAX loads ex-LGW show that customers like to use the airport. It has a large catchment area and is easily accessible by both road and rail. Whilst low fares are attracting customers initially, low moral and lack of staff means that BA cannot offer the customer service it's reputation requires. News that the low-cost operators will welcome.
Perhaps BA needs to transform the issue of morale into a language it's accountants who run the compnay can understand.
Happy staff=good customer service=happy punters=£££££.