For those that read TLFL regularly, you will know that although we will call BA out when there are things we don’t like, generally we are a fan of the airline. Both Paul and I are Gold Guest List members, Roving Reporter and Claudio are also both Gold. So you could say we are a pretty loyal bunch. Increasingly, that loyalty is being tested, not just by how they are behaving towards loyal customers, but now how they are using the current situation to treat staff appallingly.
Last week I spoke briefly about what BA were planning in terms of staff cuts, since then a lot more information has come to light about what they are hoping to do. In this article, I will talk about what has been revealed, but also what I think about the situation.
Status extensions and communication
We already know that BA have offered a 30% reduction in the tier points needed to retain status for those that expire in April to June 2020. They are giving 6 months extensions on BA Amex vouchers and Gold Upgrade Vouchers (to be fair they have always given 6-month GUF extensions on request). For those with renewal dates after June, they are left wondering what will happen to them. I understand why BA have played it this way, and from a business point of view, I don’t blame them. If you tell all customers you have extended their status for another year, where is the incentive to bother flying with BA if there is a better deal elsewhere? However, the uncertainty and lack of communication is a mistake I believe. You only have to look at Paul, who is as BA orientated as you can get, but has now decided to move his business to Star Alliance.
My own year ends in March and I have no idea what they will offer me. Actually, I don’t need to know the exact details right now. However, I do think there are a lot of loyal BA customers though who feel ignored and uncertain about what will happen with their status. If I was running BA, I would be sending something to these customers to assure them that their loyalty is valued.
For example, I would like to see something like this,
Dear Michele
You may be aware that we have extended status for Executive Club members whose status ends in April – June 2020. You may be wondering what will happen to your own status if it falls outside this period. British Airways values your loyalty and you can rest assured we will be doing everything we can to help you maintain your status in these uncertain times. We are constantly reviewing the situation and will make announcements on a regular basis as to how we will be helping people maintain their status.
We want to treat people as individuals, hence why we are not taking a blanket approach to loyalty renewals. We thank you for your loyal custom and sticking with us in these unprecendented times. We will be in contact with more information as soon as we have it.
Would that be so difficult? With so many other airlines making generous status extensions, I think some clear communication to BA status holders on a regular basis is needed.
What do you think BA should do about status renewals? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
Staff redundancies
Last week it was revealed that not only were BA making up to 12,000 staff redundant but they were also planning to introduce one single cabin crew fleet at Heathrow. BA have long had a major headache with 3 different cabin crew fleets and varying terms and conditions. They have always wanted to combine them into one fleet and get rid of the more expensive World Wide crew. I actually don’t disagree with this, as there are a number of advantages for everyone as one combined fleet.
Operationally it is a headache when you can’t mix and match crew due to different agreements. This will be particularly relevant when BA try to restore services to any level of normality. For customers, it means in times of extreme disruption, BA are less likely to run out of crew if they need a whole new crew, as they won’t have to come from one pool out of three.
From a safety perspective, having crews with mixed levels of experience is also much better than having inexperienced crews together. For customer service, I think it would also benefit customers as World Wide crew could pass down the benefits of their experience to some of the less well versed Mixed Fleet.
However, there are ways of doing this legally and doing the right thing by your employees. Personally, I would be combining the fleets on one set of terms and conditions, but allowing World Wide Crew to mark time on their current salary and offering a decent redundancy package for those that choose to go.
What is BA trying to do with its staff?
As I mentioned earlier, more details of the plans have emerged. Unite have produced a table showing the plans for staff cuts
I think many airlines will have to reduce headcount as even if we start travelling again by autumn,(best case scenario) the number of people travelling and routes will be reduced for some time. But as I said, there are ways to do this with the least possible consequences on people. Whilst hard decisions need to be made, a global crisis like this is not the time to be trying to take advantage of the situation to screw your staff over.
So what are they proposing exactly? According to Unite, the cabin crew union, BA plan to start making staff redundant from 15 June, even though they are on government-paid furlough until the end of June. Once made redundant, those that are deemed suitable will be offered a new contract to be re-employed. All their previous pay, benefits, terms and conditions etc will be now void and they will have to accept the new contract. Or be dismissed. We don’t know what the new contracts will involve, but I would place money on the T&C being the same as Mixed Fleet. I can’t see BA offering much more than the current Mixed Fleet salary either. Mixed Fleet salary is pretty low even after recent pay settlements. The average take-home pay according to Unite is an average of £16,000.
You will also notice that BA are not making all Gatwick staff redundant, which would suggest that the suggestion that they could close Gatwick permanently was just posturing.
Understandably their union, Unite, are not at all happy and have written to the UK Government setting out their concerns. One of the areas of concern being BA’s use of the UK government furlough scheme which is meant to protect jobs. BA know that Unite have little power in this situation. They can’t threaten industrial action as most of their members are furloughed. They are also taking legal action alleging that BA has not complied with the 90 day consultation period required when dismissing more than 100 members of staff.
Is the future as bleak for BA and IAG as they are making out?
BA is painting a bleak picture of the future in its communications. We can all agree that the travel industry is facing a tough time before it gets anywhere near back to normal. However, at this point, most of the future projections about travel are just guesswork. No one knows how and when the crisis will end. So how can you predict what will happen with travel?
So is the future as bad as they make out? Financially, BA is one of the most secure airlines having recently secured a $1.38 billion revolving credit facility which they have not yet used. British Airways has about £3bn in cash and IAG has access to another €10.7bn in credit. Unite estimate that BA could survive even if their entire fleet were grounded for a year.
As far as we know, IAG their parent company, are going ahead with their purchase of Air Europa at a cost of €1bn (although we don’t know what the penalties for withdrawing would be). Most controversially after refusing any help for BA from the UK government, IAG have agreed Spanish government-backed loans for Iberia who received €750 million and Vueling.
What do think about BA’s plans for its staff? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
14 comments
I feel BA have failed their loyal customers. As a Gold Card holder who has already had two significant trips that would have maintained Gold Status cancelled (flights late March and June) I would reasonably have expected a communication extending my Gold Status. My Tier point collection ends Aug and status Sept and I would have seen an extension to the same in 2021 as both recognition of the disruption / inability to travel, acknowledgement that travel remains uncertain for some time yet and hence booking flights (which I am keen to do) is problematic but I would reciprocate their loyalty to me by continuing to support them – I would even accept a must book by say 6 months after scheduled end date of Aug to ensure the extension.
That’s an interesting idea about some sort of travel qualification to get an extension. A bit like a status match that needs you to have a flight already booked with the airline or to take a certain number of flights to get it for a full year.
I agree with you on BA’s lack of information on Tier status. My year expires in January and I was on target to retain Gold but 2 trips (600TP) have been cancelled so far. I did manage 2 trips before lockdown (440TP) but the 3 already booked for later this year are clearly in doubt.
Same here. Due to a rare alignment of the stars, and other thinly disguised work trips falling within a single TP year (and a couple of carefully crafted TP-efficient trips) I have got within touching distance of GGL – and I would have made it by now had flights not been cancelled. However, my TP year runs until September so falls outside the current extension policy. A targeted TP credit, similar to original routing credit, would be very welcome!
A very interesting perspective. BA and Iberia are my short haul airline of choice because of their great cabin crew, decent and improving catering and my frequent trips to Spain. I love One World, too. BA pilots I know, from junior F/Os to old captains, view the airline with anything from indifference to hatred. That said, it remains the best flying job in town, and I view it as the best airline for European flights. When I thank crew for looking after me so well, I frequently mention that I’m aware of their poor treatment at the hands of management.
There have been years when BA’s survival has been in question; I don’t believe this is one of them. Under attack from the ruthless pricing and of the lowest cost operators, as well as its own ludicrous pension plan, management has had carte blanche to chip away at terms and conditions of the remaining employees. It’s now a far leaner operation, sadly at the expense of staff, principally the non flight crew staff.
All comments so far about personal impact, nothing about the impact on thousands of staff.
I’m not concerned about my loss of status, I won’t be going on a plane until there’s a vaccine.
If BA are going to grasp the nettle on standardising terms and conditions now is the time to do it.
It’s unfair for newer staff to be working alongside others on better ‘legacy’ terms. In my experience it causes resentment. And you can’t retain those on legacy conditions for ever. They tend to be unwilling to move to new roles, even promotions, on new conditions, there’s low turnover and unfortunately some will just be marking time until they can or want to retire.
It’s hard, but measures such as gradual rundown over a 3-5 year period and no pay increase until legacy staff conditions reach the new terms are typical approaches and soften the blow.
What Unite should be focussing on is negotiating decent terms for the new fleet structure. If BA want a premium brand they should be looking at being an employer of choice, not just following the herd and matching market rates.
“It’s unfair for newer staff to be working alongside others on better ‘legacy’ terms”
What rubbish. You take a job based on the contract in front of you at the time. You and only you decide if that suits you. If these terms and conditions are then changed down the years, its not fair to attack the terms and condition of the currently employed. If the new employees are happy to sign their new (lesser) terms and conditions that is purely their decision at the time. They could say no and look for another job. If you are in a job that is seen as glamorous there will always be people wanting to do the job however much you erode conditions.
I was a firefighter for 30 years, exactly the same has happened. Naturally it is an attractive job to many, people joining the job later than me were on different terms, many having to work 5 years or more and paying higher pension contributions to get a lessor pension than I did. That was there choice. It didn’t effect the working relationship as people understood they weren’t being forced to be a firefighter.
As Michelle says in the article there are ways it could be handled.
“allowing World Wide Crew to mark time on their current salary and offering a decent redundancy package for those that choose to go”
This is 10 years plus in the offing. Now is the perfect climate for BA to acheive their long term aim.
The scary thing is what will the service be like in the new post COVID BA. Lets not beat around the bush, mixed fleet vary from adequate to pretty hopeless, it takes minutes of being on board usually to tell who is serving you. Because of the way the fleet came about there was little experience from the start. It always seem like people were learning on the job, often seeming like rabbits in the headlights fumbling through. Drinks forgotten or spilled, meals forgetten, the old touches missed out.
Our last flight in Dec was to Johannesburg in first (on an Amex 2-4-1) things were missed in the service, my wife and I were sitting together in the middle yet served from each aisle at different times as if we didn’t know each other. My hot breakfast choice never came. As well as other missing touches.
“Poor me” I hear you say and you are right. At £1100 plus the avios none of it was a big deal, the seat was still fantastic but who would be happy knowing what first class used to be like if you were paying the published £8500 (the price the day we booked)
Taking this planned action will see BA heading for “low cost long haul” I can only think the middle eastern flag carriers and the classier European ones that come through this will be rubbing their hands.
Especially if business travel falls as people realise what can be done from home. The wealthier leisure travellers with time won’t worry so much about London direct services. They’ll be looking at stop overs or ex europe knowing the service they will get will be cheaper and vastly superior than on “Air BA X”
I am not a points chaser (BA Silver) but I do feel that BA have behaved very poorly with their customers, loyal or otherwise. The whole debacle with vouchers/refunds has been disgraceful, verging on disingenuous whilst all the time, their offering is nowhere near the best in town. Yes, they offer an extensive ex UK flight network but there are alternatives. I admit to being speechless recently when my wife asked me “why exactly do we continue to fly with BA”? They do not want to lose the cosy tie up with AA which is very profitable for them (hence no approach to HMG for cash) but only to force Virgin out of business (we all remember their “dirty tricks” campaign against VA culminating in total High Court humiliation for BA in 1993) and their current approach to staff redundancies is, quite frankly, despicable. BA (and Cruz) in particular, need to look very carefully at themselves in the mirror and ask the question “is this the best ethical way to behave”? I will shortly be asking my own question “is this really the kind of business to whom I want to give my support?’
I am sure that it is hard times for BA, as for the rest of IAG. Most European countries have only one “National airline”, but the UK has 2. I suspect that BA are using the crisis to a) balance out legacy crew and mixed fleet crew and b) to put pressure on Virgin by BA not taking a Government loan, thereby making it almost impossible for Virgin to be granted a loan.
Survival of the fittest.
I am in a slightly different position than others I have for the last few years maintained Silver (BA year end August) however this year I was targeting Gold. I have already met the TP requirements for Silver currently sitting on 960TP. I had several trips in March and April (now cancelled) and would of reached Gold by now but now I don’t expect to reach that level this year. Personally I am not to concerned as I see in the future when this is all over there will be opportunities to reach the next level however frustrating it is having targeted to make it this year.
For me it’s not about different people on different contracts working together. Many of us have been doing that successfully for years.
I find the number of job losses quite frightening, and the possibility that there may be no legislation in place to prevent successful companies dismissing staff one day, and reemploying them the next on inferior salaries, terms and conditions, something that should be of grave concern to any of us in the UK as we all battle our way through the Covid-19 minefield.
Puts worrying about status and whether I can help myself to Champagne in the First lounge, or have to ask for it in Galleries Club into perspective!
Oxonboy – just a couple points.
‘It’s unfair for newer staff to be working alongside others on better ‘legacy’ terms. In my experience it causes resentment. And you can’t retain those on legacy conditions for ever.’
If the legacy fleet and Mixed Fleet crew merge it will be on the same terms and conditions. I think what Michelle is proposing is that although Worldwide and Mixed Fleet would work along the same agreements and terms, Worldwide should at least take their basic pay.
This is not without precedent. Did you know that even amongst the legacy crews flying together there are two different groups? There are the ‘pre ’97’ contract crew and the post ’97 (and pre MF) legacy crew. I cannot see why there should ever be resentment. You sign up to the contract you sign up to. It really is that simple. If you are unhappy with the contract in front of you, don’t.
Having acquired GGL for the first time two months ahead of my year end, I suddenly found myself in a position unable to enjoy the benefits! I only have one flight booked in the year ahead (Aberdeen in July) and was about to flight plan when Covid struck full force. As we won’t get flying properly until the autumn (6 months into my year) I’m unsure if it’s even worth trying to retain it at the most basic level of GGL (3,000 TP) and might just slip down to a silver next spring. I’m currently reconsidering my financial flying strategy and may even switch alliances as I am not impressed with the way BA are proposing to treat their staff going forward.
Exactly the same situation as me. Having flown an awful lot to get a CCR card with a March renewal date, I currently feel that by the time I can travel safely again at best I will get a few months out of it. I had a number of flights cancelled. I think for a CCR card they should be looking at some sort of extension as unless they dramatically change their current offer I can’t see myself getting to more than basic GGL level.
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