British Airways cabin crews are likely to receive a salary increase of between 10% and 15% as the carrier tries to mend strained employee relations after being dubbed a “national disgrace” for its handling of the pandemic’s workers.
Sean Doyle, the CEO of British Airways, and Sharon Graham, the new leader of the powerful Unite union, negotiated the agreement.
As part of a publicity campaign exposing the airline’s effort to cut employee terms and conditions, Graham invented the phrase “fire and rehire.”
Newer cabin crew will receive a 5% pay raise in March and then two bonus payments worth 5% of their base wage at the end of the year as part of the agreement.
Longer-serving flight attendants will get three incentive payments totaling 10% of their base compensation over the course of the year.
British Airways said it will strive to raise wages by 10% starting in 2023, and depending on how soon the company recovers from the pandemic’s residual impacts, the overall pay boost might reach 15%.
The pay offer also applies to contact center workers and other customer support workers who have been laid off as a result of the pandemic.
“We’ve been in touch with our operational colleagues to provide an expression of thanks for their hard work during the pandemic,” a BA representative said in an emailed statement.
In June 2020, an influential Parliamentary committee on transportation concluded that the way British Airways was treating its employees fell “well below the standards we would expect from any employer”.
After cutting 10,000 jobs, including 4,700 cabin staff, BA was dubbed a “national disgrace” by the Transportation Selection Committee.
As a result of the new terms and circumstances that were imposed, veteran crew members’ earnings were reduced by 15 to 35 percent.
The airline is now attempting to hire up to 3,000 more cabin crew members but is having difficulty filling positions.
Sean Doyle has stated his goal to mend employee relations, despite the fact that he faces an uphill task.
He recently admitted that an internal employee satisfaction survey made for “sobering reading” but claimed there was no more money available to increase wages.
Customers in Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey will benefit from the additional Newark flight.
This summer, British Airways, and American Airlines will offer the most extensive network from the New York region to London, with 15 daily departures, including 11 daily flights from JFK to Heathrow and one daily trip from JFK to Gatwick.
A Boeing 777-200 with 48 Club World seats, 40 World Traveller Plus seats, and 184 World Traveller seats will fly the flight on a daily basis.
“We are happy to be introducing our third daily route from Newark, to further reinforce our New York – London schedule,” British Airways director of networks and alliances Neil Chernoff said.
“Customers who would rather spend an extra night in New York or arrive in London in the evening to start their next day more refreshed prefer the handy morning departure.”
