In an attempt to offset the 13,500 cabin crew voting to walk off the job due to staffing reductions, British Airways PLC (BA) set up a program to retrain employees to become flight attendants.
Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, announced the measure on Monday. However, only less than 2 percent of the cabin crew could be potentially replaced considering only 216 volunteers signed up for the recruitment initiative, the Unite trade union said.
Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary, said in a statement, “With a cabin crew of 13,500 does BA seriously think this handful of inexperienced individuals will be able to operate a service?”
Five of the nine courses will be dedicated to converting pilots into cabin crew. Some 120 pilots who will be trained to be flight attendants are still paid their pilots’ salaries, in the region of 120,000 pounds (US$195,000) per year, which, says Unite, make them the most expensive cabin crew ever.
According to the Financial Times, the BA pilots, unlike flight attendants, have negotiated new contracts that will produce savings of about $42 million a year.
Unite also warned that BA passengers could be put at risk if strike-breaking cabin crew do not have the experience to respond to emergency situations. As BA begins its conversion courses for staff who work in other departments in the airline, Unite says this could arouse public concern.
Experienced crew normally undergo three months training. The union warns that BA’s 21-day training program for temporary flight crew may not result in a qualified, professional crew and will not support the team working a successful crew is built upon.
“Not only does this show contempt for the crew, what message does it send to passengers who have paid to be cared for by a premier airline?” said McCluskey.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman confirmed that the authority had agreed to a recent request from BA to monitor the safety aspects of the new courses, but this did not constitute collusion. “It is clearly our statutory responsibility to do this,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
The spokesman said the CAA was involved in training related to safety and it would be up to the airline to train potential replacement crew on service standards.
BA is the flagship airline for the United Kingdom and is based near London’s Heathrow Airport. It is the nation’s largest airline by fleet size and scope of destination. BA has experienced a history of crew strikes since its establishment in 1974.
A proposed but ultimately unsuccessful 12-day strike of 12,500 BA cabin crew could have disrupted the 2009 holiday travel season, causing losses of more than $50 million per day.
Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, announced the measure on Monday. However, only less than 2 percent of the cabin crew could be potentially replaced considering only 216 volunteers signed up for the recruitment initiative, the Unite trade union said.
Len McCluskey, Unite assistant general secretary, said in a statement, “With a cabin crew of 13,500 does BA seriously think this handful of inexperienced individuals will be able to operate a service?”
Five of the nine courses will be dedicated to converting pilots into cabin crew. Some 120 pilots who will be trained to be flight attendants are still paid their pilots’ salaries, in the region of 120,000 pounds (US$195,000) per year, which, says Unite, make them the most expensive cabin crew ever.
According to the Financial Times, the BA pilots, unlike flight attendants, have negotiated new contracts that will produce savings of about $42 million a year.
Unite also warned that BA passengers could be put at risk if strike-breaking cabin crew do not have the experience to respond to emergency situations. As BA begins its conversion courses for staff who work in other departments in the airline, Unite says this could arouse public concern.
Experienced crew normally undergo three months training. The union warns that BA’s 21-day training program for temporary flight crew may not result in a qualified, professional crew and will not support the team working a successful crew is built upon.
“Not only does this show contempt for the crew, what message does it send to passengers who have paid to be cared for by a premier airline?” said McCluskey.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman confirmed that the authority had agreed to a recent request from BA to monitor the safety aspects of the new courses, but this did not constitute collusion. “It is clearly our statutory responsibility to do this,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.
The spokesman said the CAA was involved in training related to safety and it would be up to the airline to train potential replacement crew on service standards.
BA is the flagship airline for the United Kingdom and is based near London’s Heathrow Airport. It is the nation’s largest airline by fleet size and scope of destination. BA has experienced a history of crew strikes since its establishment in 1974.
A proposed but ultimately unsuccessful 12-day strike of 12,500 BA cabin crew could have disrupted the 2009 holiday travel season, causing losses of more than $50 million per day.
