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IAG: BA restructuring may cost 12,000 jobs

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IAG: BA restructuring may cost 12,000 jobs

Old 2nd May 2020, 10:32
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Unless there’s a general policy of no retraining. It’s certainly difficult to justify in legal terms making someone redundant from their seat and then training another pilot to take their position (bumping aka transferred redundancy is possible but it’s a minefield). Which is another reason why P&P this year and next will be FUBAR, why I’ve mentioned that I don’t know as it’s the least of anyone’s concern right now but there was the (at the time certainly not now) comedy post on yammer just a few weeks ago - just before it was suspended - of a P74L demanding to know when his P77L course was.

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Old 2nd May 2020, 11:40
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BA Senior Leadership: immoral and unethical

"British Airways (BA) announced that it is to make 12,000 UK workers at the airline redundant. This is without any consultation with the UK's aviation unions. This is within the backdrop of BA parent owner IAG having secured over a billion euros in funding to save its sister airlines Aer Lingus, Iberia, Level, Vueling, and IAGcargo. None of which so far has seen anywhere near the number of redundancies announced by Alex Cruz CEO of BA. What is also interesting is that Wille Walsh, Chief Executive of IAG, has not stopped the billion euro purchase or Air Europa.

BA through its action so far has shown that it had no intentions whatsoever to stick to the principles laid out by Rishi Sunak when the chancellor launched the UK job retention scheme in April. A scheme that BA has taken full advantage of, and let's not forget, is funded exclusively by the UK taxpayer.

BA, with the consent of its parent company IAG, has actively targeted the UK and its workforce, claiming it will be making a loss in the region of £550m and that these cuts are necessary, which is a total fallacy if we are to believe the statement issued on the 30th of March.

To put this into context on the 30th of March this year IAG/BA released the following statement:

International Airlines Group (IAG) announces that British Airways has extended its US dollar secured Revolving Credit Facility for one year from 23 June 2020 to 23 June 2021. The amount available under the extended facility is $1.38 billion. Including the extended facility and some smaller additional facilities recently arranged, IAG has total undrawn general and committed aircraft financing facilities equivalent to €2.1 billion currently, compared to €1.9 billion at the end of 2019. IAG has not drawn down on any of its facilities.

Well, what does this mean to you I the UK taxpayer? It's simple really, BA actually has enough money to call on to help it through this crisis but they have chosen to use the TAX payer to fund it. As you and I, the hard-working UK taxpayer, funded BA, a corporation with billions in cash to call upon, the UK CEO Alex Cruz drew up his plans to get rid of 12000 people in the UK ONLY paying them as little as possible.

I urge you all to look a little further into this as it's plain to see that IAG also has money via loans and cash reserves and its 25% stakeholders Qatar Air who in turn is owned by the state of Qatar, which as we all know is one of the richest countries in the world.

However, having all this money to call on means nothing to Wille Walsh and Alex Cruz, they have used COVID-19 to target the UK workforce to just throw them aside, some of them having almost 50 years' experience. Alex Cruz has already made it clear that he will give the government maximums, which is as follow. The length of service is capped at 20 years. If you were made redundant on or after 6 April 2020, your weekly pay is capped at £538 and the maximum statutory redundancy pay you can get is £16,140. While you may be thinking well that's a lot of money and it is BA has been offering redundancy packages in line with earnings for the last 6 years but Willie Walsh and Alex Cruz are using this to get rid of people for as little as possible. Also please remember those that have done almost 50 years' service will be written off as cheaply as possible by a money rich corporate. I am not sure how these people can actually sleep at night.

So I am asking all of you to please sign this petition to urge the UK government to bring Willie Walsh and Alex Cruz to account immediately.

This is one of the biggest scams I have seen in my lifetime and these people need to face the UK public. Alex Cruz with the blessing of Wille Walsh have helped themselves to our hard-earned money and actively targeted our workforce over others.

Lastly, if you cant sign this for the BA staff about to lose their jobs or the Uk TAX Payer then sign it for the BA staff that have been risking their lives repatriating UK citizens without the necessary PPE equipment while BA billed the UK government millions to bring our people home"

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https://www.change.org/p/boris-johns...935_en-GB%3Av5
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Old 2nd May 2020, 13:41
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In the days of bmi redundancies, ten years ago, there was a matrix in which FOs at the bottom of the MSL were to be made redundant and junior captains were demoted, I think that is legal, but different fleets and bases are a different issue. bmi was a single fleet, so a different story to BA, but nonetheless relevant as the law has changed little since then.
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Old 2nd May 2020, 19:00
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Incidentally, those pilots bringing this PPE back from China risking their lives as essential workers are also doing it on half salary to help the company out.
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Old 2nd May 2020, 20:21
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BA: this is the biggest mistake in your history.

BA: this announcement is the biggest mistake in your history.
The recent announcement on dismissing and then re-employing the entire BA workforce is certainly the biggest mistake in aviation's history. Dismissal with the intent to re-employ on much lower working conditions during the largest global Crisis in modern history is an act against humanity. Immoral, unethical and illegal during a furlough scheme funded by the UK gov ready to extend it if necessary. Highly greedy and inhumane. An act of war against 12K loyal employees. Governments all around the world threw the standard rules of capitalism out of the window to protect the lives of millions of people. Unprecedented. This is what governments are meant to do during an unprecedented crisis of this magnitude. BA ignored the fact that Covid19 is a global pandemic and these are exceptional times. Unacceptable. It is certainly time to seriously "grill" these sociopaths who earn millions of £ per week (if we include all perks + bonuses) with the only aim to increase their power and personal wealth. Willie Walsh & Alex Cruz will have to respond of their actions in a UK Court of Law and in front of the UK Parliament Transport committee. CEOs and Senior Leaders are meant to get paid to protect the Company they manage & represent which is made of thousands of real people. This BA management style is outdated and the power of the web will finally remove the few sociopaths still left in power on these highly paid jobs. The UK government should actually regain full control of the British National carrier if Willie Walsh and Alex Cruz will not attend the meetings with the Parliament Transport Committee. BA should belong to its employees and government together. Both shareholders.
This BA act is simply a plan to reintroduce modern slavery through zero hours' style contracts which we must stop to protect the health and well being of our future generations.
This is much more serious than just saving 12K jobs. This is about saving our future generations from modern slavery and therefore avoid a huge mental health crisis exacerbated by medieval working conditions.
Let's hope the Government will step in and regain control of BA as this is a highly critical service essential for the British economy to survive and rebound, BA is the UK national carrier and it cannot be McDonaldised by a couple of sociopaths.
The NHS should be finally safe after the recent events, now it is BA's turn to be saved from ruin. We must save our national carrier. We all need to play our part now.
The UK government is already on it. MPs are furious, understandably.

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Old 2nd May 2020, 20:52
  #246 (permalink)  
 
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Such a terrible shame to the many friends I have at BA and a company held in high regards worldwide.

unfortunately others have done it better and cheaper for many years now and CV19 represents a
chance for BA to force through what they have tried several times previously, to lower costs and T&C.

I wish everyone the best of luck, but I’d be very surprised to see WW or AC in court to defend their actions.
Having seen the indifference and been a victim to the governments lax attitude toward aviation in this country to Monarch, Thomas Cooke and Flybe to name but a few recent victims, I think it is down to Balpa and Unite to stick to their guns.
Good Luck.
Bon Voyage.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 00:30
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Apples and pears

Originally Posted by Serenity
Such a terrible shame to the many friends I have at BA and a company held in high regards worldwide.

unfortunately others have done it better and cheaper for many years now and CV19 represents a
chance for BA to force through what they have tried several times previously, to lower costs and T&C.

I wish everyone the best of luck, but I’d be very surprised to see WW or AC in court to defend their actions.
Having seen the indifference and been a victim to the governments lax attitude toward aviation in this country to Monarch, Thomas Cooke and Flybe to name but a few recent victims, I think it is down to Balpa and Unite to stick to their guns.
Good Luck.
Bon Voyage.
serenity,

other than all being airlines do you see much similarity between BA and Monarch, Thomas Cook and FlyBe?

BA has, since IAG was born in 2011, contributed upwards of 85% total group profit of all IAG airlines (Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus). BA has in that time made almost €10billion in straight profit for the “group”. BA has the most efficient pilot scheduling agreement of the two other legacy airlines in the group.

IAG has Eur9.2bn of total liquidity at its disposal, around €8billion of that is from profits made by the loyal workers at BA. Others may do it “cheaper”, on a pro rata basis, but very few if any airlines have created as much wealth for their owners as the employees for BA. Yet here is where the axe will fall, whilst other airlines in the group, who contribute a relative pittance, get state aid and remain intact, the highly profitable people at BA will have their lives permanently ruined (those that remain as well as those made redundant).

Welcome to Capitalism 2.0. Spawn from a global health pandemic, I hope the creators are remembered for all time alongside Hitler, Stalin, Mao and co.

Last edited by Built4Speed2; 3rd May 2020 at 01:26.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 02:59
  #248 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by Built4Speed2
Yet here is where the axe will fall, whilst other airlines in the group, who contribute a relative pittance, get state aid and remain intact, the highly profitable people at BA will have their lives permanently ruined (those that remain as well as those made redundancy).
If that makes you feel better, you are going to see the axe falling on Vueling and Iberia's employees very soon. The "highly profitable people at BA" (as if the profits or losses of a company depend on its pilots and cabin crews) won't be alone for long,don't worry
​​​
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Old 3rd May 2020, 04:53
  #249 (permalink)  
 
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Dan Air acquisition.
Remember that Balpa went along with BA disregarding seniority when Dan Air was “rescued” taking on junior pilots on the airbus in preference to Dan Air seniority list.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 07:03
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Yet here is where the axe will fall, whilst other airlines in the group, who contribute a relative pittance, get state aid and remain intact, the highly profitable people at BA will have their lives permanently ruined (those that remain as well as those made redundant).
The airline I used to work for (before they went into administration) had nothing but hard working and dedicated staff on the ground and in the air, sadly an airlines performance has very little to do with how “profitable” it’s staff are and much more to do with other factors.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 07:14
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Originally Posted by Built4Speed2
serenity,

other than all being airlines do you see much similarity between BA and Monarch, Thomas Cook and FlyBe?

BA has, since IAG was born in 2011, contributed upwards of 85% total group profit of all IAG airlines (Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus). BA has in that time made almost €10billion in straight profit for the “group”. BA has the most efficient pilot scheduling agreement of the two other legacy airlines in the group.

IAG has Eur9.2bn of total liquidity at its disposal, around €8billion of that is from profits made by the loyal workers at BA. Others may do it “cheaper”, on a pro rata basis, but very few if any airlines have created as much wealth for their owners as the employees for BA. Yet here is where the axe will fall, whilst other airlines in the group, who contribute a relative pittance, get state aid and remain intact, the highly profitable people at BA will have their lives permanently ruined (those that remain as well as those made redundant).

Welcome to Capitalism 2.0. Spawn from a global health pandemic, I hope the creators are remembered for all time alongside Hitler, Stalin, Mao and co.
v

I suggest Walsh delayed his retirement from IAG as he saw a chance to settle some old scores - BASSA, BALPA and Branson.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 07:32
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Agreed. But also because he probably thinks he can secure some bonus share options that will perform very nicely in the future.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 08:20
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Originally Posted by Northern Monkey
Agreed. But also because he probably thinks he can secure some bonus share options that will perform very nicely in the future.
WW exploits in the Finance Dept cost him a bundle trying to recoup the loss???
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Old 3rd May 2020, 08:45
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Just having a chat about this with someone who’s non aviation.
They have asked the question that if the aircraft aren’t flying are the company supposed to keep the crew on full pay and for how long?
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Old 3rd May 2020, 09:32
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Might of missed this... Are BA utilising the JRS - Job Retention Scheme to help pay wages?
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Old 3rd May 2020, 09:33
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BRITISH Airways wants its entire workforce to sign up to new "zero hours"contracts

"BRITISH Airways wants its entire workforce to sign up to new contracts which would allow them to lay-off staff without negotiation.

Union leaders fear the “traumatised” workforce is being railroaded into accepting the equivalent of "zero-hour" deals which could be ripped-up in the event of turbulence in future.

Details emerged last night as The Sun was leaked a breakdown of job-losses at British Airways - with 931 engineers among those getting the boot.

Yesterday union chiefs submitted legal papers to the High Court to argue that BA’s bid to make 12,000 staff redundant is illegal.

They say the 45-day "consultation period" should in fact be 90 days.

Leaders blasted the airline for jettisoning staff when BA parent company IAG was sitting on £8.3billion in its coffers.

Airline insiders said the mooted June 15 deadline is in fact the earliest a deal could be reached, with the likelihood being staff issues are resolved by December.

Workers given the boot will be offered standard statutory redundancy plus three months wages.

A BA insider said: “A negotiating process is under way. Everything is up for grabs. The airline is fighting for survival.”

The Sun was shown BA’s predicted job loss breakdown - with 1,130 flight crew getting the boot.

Also leaving BA are 1,022 from head office, 931 engineers, 219 contact centre staff, 2,420 Heathrow ground staff and 342 Gatwick ground staff.

The projected job loss total is 11,913.

'DIRTY TRICKS'

BA was yesterday accused of “dirty tricks” and faced a furious backlash over controversial plans to axe staff after using taxpayer cash to furlough its workforce.

Five MPs near Heathrow airport wrote an angry letter to BA boss Alex Cruz asking for an urgent meeting to explain himself.

The letter, penned by Seema Malhotra, MP for Feltham & Heston, said: “We would urge you to work with unions and government to do everything possible to find a solution and mitigate job losses.

“We would greatly appreciate if you could urgently meet with us to provide a briefing on steps you are taking to alleviate the immediate financial pressures and reduce the number of jobs which could be cut, the extent to which government schemes are assisting with the impact and the support you will be providing to those who lose their jobs.”

The cross-party letter was signed by Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth, John McDonnell MP for Hayes and Harlington, Virendra Sharma MP for Ealing and Southall, and James Murray MP for Ealing North.

Another - MP, Tory Andrew Griffiths representing Burton - wrote to constituents accusing BA of “dirty tricks” and a huge “over-reaction”.

He said: “If I was a cynic I would speculate that BA has done this precisely in the hope that everyone lobbies their MP and that they got more government bail-out money as the result.”

Unite yesterday told BA staff: “BA has availed itself of millions of pounds of taxpayers money, ostensibly to avoid making staff redundant.

“But they have not honoured that commitment or the spirit for which it was intended.

“In fact it would appear that BA has simply sought to take advantage of staff being furloughed and dismiss them in their absence.”

'LEGALLY AND MORALLY WRONG'

The unions said BA's behaviour was “both legally and morally” wrong.

Swathes of furious cabin crew yesterday boycotted an online chat with BA’s cabin crew boss Amy James.

Pilots union Balpa said it was “hugely disappointed” with BA for its “opportunism”.

In a scathing response to BA’s plans, Balpa said the airline was “in breach” of Covid emergency plans: “The main purpose of the government Job Retention Scheme is to avoid the need for any compulsory redundancies.”

BA was accused by the pilots’ bosses of trying to “exploit” the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sun told first how BA had furloughed around 36,000 staff amid the coronavirus shutdown.

BA bosses plan to ditch its Worldwide, Eurofleet and Mixed cabin fleets to create a single new crew team at Heathrow, serving long-haul and short-haul flights.

The Sun told yesterday how BA could stop all flights from the UK’s biggest airport Heathrow - and may decide never to return to the second largest hub Gatwick.


BA’s redundancy plans and talks with the union were put on hold when coronavirus struck, decimating the airline industry.

Insiders said strike action could follow because “BA staff are traumatised and have nothing left to lose”.

A spokesman for BA said: “We can’t comment further while we consult with our unions”

Original source:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/115359...hour-contract/
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Old 3rd May 2020, 09:59
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Yes

Originally Posted by Bravo Zulu
Might of missed this... Are BA utilising the JRS - Job Retention Scheme to help pay wages?
Of course yes, for many thousands and the government pays those salaries hence BA announcement is clearly going against government legislation as furlough/JRS will be extended again as necessary.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 10:05
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JRS

Originally Posted by srjumbo747
Just having a chat about this with someone who’s non aviation.
They have asked the question that if the aircraft aren’t flying are the company supposed to keep the crew on full pay and for how long?
JRS has been introduced by the UK government exactly to cover for this crisis, many industries are affected not just travel and aviation.
This is exactly the scope of JRS, to protect jobs during the pandemic and avoid mass redundancies/unpaid leave, standard rules of capitalism must be ignored during JRS as Governments all around the world have stepped in as they would do during a war. BA, instead, decided to restructure in the middle of a pandemic covered by JRS, this is the immoral & illegal aspect of BA's decision. If BA will be successful and therefore set a precedent we will all end up with a deep and irreversible "McDonaldisation" of the UK job market (e.g. widespread zero hours contracts, no paid sickness, no paid annual leave, no union protection, excessive workload,etc...the list is very long, it will be a pretty awful working life for millions of people, only those at the very top would benefit) with awful consequences on the mental health of future generations which will translate in huge NHS costs paid by all of us, the UK Tax payers. Is this what we really want for our kids? This is now a battle to save the future generations from ruin...and imagine that I am a strong supporter of capitalism... however capitalism has clearly degenerated and COVID19 is the final proof so governments must retake control. If I was the PM I would now push for nationalization of BA with shares also owned by all BA employees unless BA will change direction and seek government assistance to save jobs until the crisis is over. A national carrier is as critical to the UK's survival as the NHS, which is in fact nationalized (thank God!), we cannot allow the NHS to be privatized, we all know even more now (look at the US!) the same concept should apply to the national carrier BA unless Senior Mgt will allow the UK government to step in and be part of it, through financial assistance and control (as majority shareholder). Very simple really.
Just try to imagine what would have happened if the UK NHS was US style during this crisis, which means a privatized NHS. Simply disaster.
Things were much better when airlines were under government control. Higher ticket prices yes, but much better quality of life for all those involved including non-profitable routes being covered and decent working conditions.

Last edited by ILS27LEFT; 3rd May 2020 at 10:28.
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Old 3rd May 2020, 10:11
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Originally Posted by ILS27LEFT
Of course yes, for many thousands and the government pays those salaries hence BA announcement is clearly going against government legislation as furlough/JRS will be extended again as necessary.
My blood boiling for you guys. Fingers crossed
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Old 3rd May 2020, 10:14
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"Ageism"

I wonder if BA,KLM,SAS et al have some hidden agenda and will draw the line for flight deck/cabin crew aged 50 upwards,destined, for the chop in order to build up the 20 somethings for the post pandemic era ?
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