British Airways wants to outsource a section of the work it does to at least 450 employees hat the company is going to make redundant. This was reported by The Guardian.
While describing the proposal of the company as “disturbing news”, the Labour party called on the government to scrutinise the plans.
According to the report, the parent company of the airline, International Airlines Group (IAG), is also contemplating complete closure of its operations at Heathrow airport’s Terminal 3 while also reducing its operations at Terminal 5.
Before the pandemic, about 15% of BA’s Heathrow traffic was carried by the Terminal 3 – which operates short-haul routes across Europe of BA and long-haul destinations including Cape Town and Miami. The report claimed that all BA flights running from Terminal 5 are ot be operated under dramatically reduced schedules.
In its response to the coronavirus pandemic, BA proposed its plans for the cutting of as many as 12,000 jobs despite the company being given state aid worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
It is within this proposed plan of cutting down of thousands of jobs, ha the company has proposed to make use of at least 450 workers who would get redundant at Heathrow for outsourcing of the work they did, claimed the report quoting sources with knowledge of the proposals.
Justifying the job cuts, BA has said that it expects the number of passenger on flights will be be significantly lower for as long as four years which means that the demand for tickets and flights will be lower.
The rating on IAG and BA debt was reduced from investment-grade to junk bond status by Moody’s Investor Service, the influential credit ratings agency, on Thursday. That meant that the borrowing costs will increase for the company which further highlights the financial pressures that the global airline industry is going through as demand is very low and the vast majority of planes still grounded.
However, the proposals to outsource the jobs of furloughed workers performing operations still required by the airline prompted criticism.
“The government should have done more to protect these jobs. We cannot see roles which are currently paid through the job retention scheme outsourced,” Jim McMahon, the shadow transport secretary said.
Ticketing services, returning lost baggage to passengers and planning the balance of weight in the plane, known as centralised load control are the jobs that are at risk in the outsourcing proposals. Teams in offices in London and Prague currently carry out the load control jobs.
There has also been criticism of the company’s outsourcing and potential offshoring proposals because of the company receiving British government support worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
“BA’s actions so far have been deeply cynical and opportunistic. Taking taxpayer money through furlough and Covid loans and then offshoring hundreds of jobs to other countries is about as unpatriotic as you can get. This behaviour from our national flag-carrier is unacceptable,” said Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB union, which represents some BA workers.
“We are acting now to protect as many jobs as possible. The airline industry is facing the deepest structural change in its history, as well as facing a severely weakened global economy. We are committed to consulting openly with our unions and our people as we prepare for a new future,” said a BA spokesman.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
While describing the proposal of the company as “disturbing news”, the Labour party called on the government to scrutinise the plans.
According to the report, the parent company of the airline, International Airlines Group (IAG), is also contemplating complete closure of its operations at Heathrow airport’s Terminal 3 while also reducing its operations at Terminal 5.
Before the pandemic, about 15% of BA’s Heathrow traffic was carried by the Terminal 3 – which operates short-haul routes across Europe of BA and long-haul destinations including Cape Town and Miami. The report claimed that all BA flights running from Terminal 5 are ot be operated under dramatically reduced schedules.
In its response to the coronavirus pandemic, BA proposed its plans for the cutting of as many as 12,000 jobs despite the company being given state aid worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
It is within this proposed plan of cutting down of thousands of jobs, ha the company has proposed to make use of at least 450 workers who would get redundant at Heathrow for outsourcing of the work they did, claimed the report quoting sources with knowledge of the proposals.
Justifying the job cuts, BA has said that it expects the number of passenger on flights will be be significantly lower for as long as four years which means that the demand for tickets and flights will be lower.
The rating on IAG and BA debt was reduced from investment-grade to junk bond status by Moody’s Investor Service, the influential credit ratings agency, on Thursday. That meant that the borrowing costs will increase for the company which further highlights the financial pressures that the global airline industry is going through as demand is very low and the vast majority of planes still grounded.
However, the proposals to outsource the jobs of furloughed workers performing operations still required by the airline prompted criticism.
“The government should have done more to protect these jobs. We cannot see roles which are currently paid through the job retention scheme outsourced,” Jim McMahon, the shadow transport secretary said.
Ticketing services, returning lost baggage to passengers and planning the balance of weight in the plane, known as centralised load control are the jobs that are at risk in the outsourcing proposals. Teams in offices in London and Prague currently carry out the load control jobs.
There has also been criticism of the company’s outsourcing and potential offshoring proposals because of the company receiving British government support worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
“BA’s actions so far have been deeply cynical and opportunistic. Taking taxpayer money through furlough and Covid loans and then offshoring hundreds of jobs to other countries is about as unpatriotic as you can get. This behaviour from our national flag-carrier is unacceptable,” said Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB union, which represents some BA workers.
“We are acting now to protect as many jobs as possible. The airline industry is facing the deepest structural change in its history, as well as facing a severely weakened global economy. We are committed to consulting openly with our unions and our people as we prepare for a new future,” said a BA spokesman.
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
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