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British Airways has announced it is to cut 1,700 cabin crew jobs and freeze pay as it continues to slash costs, warning of mounting losses if action is not taken.
The airline risked provoking a dispute with staff after deciding to act following months of talks with unions, including a missed deadline in the summer for reaching a deal.
The changes will cut the number of cabin crew jobs by 1,700, reducing the current total of 14,000 to 12,300.
BA said posts being cut involved staff who managed the crew, adding there would be no reduction in customer services on flights. The airline confirmed it was planning a two-year pay freeze on the basic pay of cabin crew, but said further talks would be held with the unions on wages.
After nine months of talks, including three days of negotiations at the conciliation service Acas last week, BA issued a statement on Tuesday warning the aviation industry remained in the worst downturn in its history.
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It said: "British Airways is currently not profitable and we expect to record a significant loss for the second consecutive year - the first time that has happened in our history. Revenues are down, so we must reduce costs to restore profitability. Thousands of staff across the airline have already made contributions to the cost-reduction programme. We have been talking to the cabin crew unions since the start of the year, but have made little progress on the contribution they might make. We have extremely professional cabin crew. However, we cannot ignore the fact that our Heathrow-based cabin crew costs are much higher than those of our Gatwick-based crew and of our competitors.
"About 1,000 members of cabin crew would like to take voluntary redundancy and a further 3,000 would like to switch to part-time working. To facilitate these requests (which represent 1,700 manpower equivalent positions in total), we must make changes to the way crew work. We have consulted on these changes and are not altering anything that requires negotiation. These changes will take place from the end of November. They will not alter contractual terms and conditions for individual crew members, and will not reduce the number of working crew on board."
BA warned that, without the changes, the airline would lose more money every month, adding: "It is essential we make ourselves more efficient if we are to ensure our long-term survival." Cabin crew sources said BA was planning to impose "significant changes" to its working agreement, to save £140 million from salary costs. Permanent changes would be imposed from November 16, including a new pay and conditions structure for new employees, the removal of a purser from from BA's Worldwide routes, the removal of an additional crew member from certain designated flights, including long-haul flights, as well as the pay freeze, said the sources.
Unite said none of the issues announced on Tuesday were discussed at the Acas talks last week. BA set a deadline of June 30 for reaching an agreement with unions over cost-saving measures, but it passed without a deal being made.
Unite tabled proposals in July it said would reduce costs by hundreds of millions of pounds a year and provide greater flexibility and more efficient working, adding it could not understand why they were not accepted by BA. Officials said they feared BA's management were using the recession to force through changes which were more far-reaching and "damaging" to BA's future.
