BA starts training strike breakers
25.01.10
British Airways will begin training pilots, baggage handlers, check-in staff and engineers to take over the duties of flight attendants today, as its 12,000 cabin crew start voting on a walkout over staffing reductions. BA has registered volunteers for a 3 week course in serving meals, selling duty-free goods and taking charge of passenger safety for the duration of a strike, which Bloomberg reports could cost £20m a day in lost sales.
BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh wrote to the airline's 25,000 non-cabin crew employees on January 18 asking them to help keep aircraft flying through a strike with a simplified in-flight service. A spokesman said the airline ‘will explore all options’ for maintaining schedules. It is also reported to be progressing with plans to hire planes and crews to operate some routes.
Douglas McNeill, an analyst at Astaire Securities, told Bloomberg: ‘This should allow them to operate some flights, but whether they can maintain anything like a full schedule is another matter. The question is not how many interim staff they can attract, but how many experienced staff there will be to lead them.’
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