British Airways wins its court case!

In a worldwide recession massively affecting the travel industry, if ever a company deserved a harmonious employer/employee relationship, then British Airways is that company. The high court ruling allowing BA to reduce the number of crew per flight may seem as if lady justice has been a little rough to the highly unionised BA crew, but to the rest of us it is an inevitable sign of the times.

The airline industry has been hit harder than most with passenger numbers in decline and the fares they are paying in freefall. The airlines that have been quick to adapt by reducing their number of flights, reconfiguring aircrafts to include more economy seats and minimising overheads by reducing staff costs have fared better than most.

Hopefully now BA can begin to make the tough but necessary steps to secure its future, a fact apparently overlooked by Unite and its members within BA. It has been a long time since a union and its members have been so out of touch with such opposing views of the general public.

British Airways crew still have the right to strike but we can all hope they use this supposed “last option” more conservatively in the future, for their own good and the for the sake of our beleaguered national carrier.

21 February, 2010 - 14:21