British Airways asks staff to work for free

[Nigelinoz]

SOURCE:
British Airways asks staff to work for free - Times Online

British Airways has asked its 40,000 staff to work without pay for up to a month as the ailing airline seeks to cut costs.
The group, which made a record £401 million loss in 2008 amid surging fuel prices and a collapse in premium-fare passengers, is seeking to dramatically reduce costs and has already offered staff unpaid leave or a reduction in hours.
Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, has now gone a step further by asking staff to volunteer for between one and four weeks of unpaid week in what he says is a “fight for survival.”
Mr Walsh, who said last week he would work for free in July, has set a deadline of June 24 for employees to volunteer for unpaid work. He said that the salary deductions would be spread over three to six months wherever possible.

Unhappy times at BA.

 

[odysseus]

I wonder how many takers he gets for that? It will partially come down to whether they feel that they are getting a better salary there than it competitors.

 

[Nigelinoz]

The crazy thing is that Willie Walsh himself has been given a pay rise !

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, will receive an inflation-busting 6 per cent pay rise, taking his salary to £743,000 this year, and could gain £1.1 million in deferred share bonuses.
The pay award was published in the airline’s annual report yesterday, but the timing is embarrassing as Mr Walsh is negotiating pay cuts with his employees. He said last night that he would forgo his annual bonus of up to £550,000 in shares this year.

BA chief Willie Walsh gets pay rise despite record losses - Times Online

 

[Dave Noble]

I wonder how many takers he gets for that? It will partially come down to whether they feel that they are getting a better salary there than it competitors.

or whether they would like to take some self funded leave. There are a fair number of people I know that I prepared to swap some pay for leave. I used to do it when I worked in the UK and upped my annual leave to 7 weeks and have done similarly in Oz

Dave

 

[mysavings789]

The crazy thing is that Willie Walsh himself has been given a pay rise !

BA chief Willie Walsh gets pay rise despite record losses - Times Online

For what? for the recommendation of cost cutting? That's unfair!

 

[samh004]

I think he should be paid the £550,000 in shares, but on the condition he can't cash them in for a couple years or so. That's show he's committed to the airline, as they'd be worthless if it collapsed.

 

[NM]

I think he should be paid the £550,000 in shares, but on the condition he can't cash them in for a couple years or so. That's show he's committed to the airline, as they'd be worthless if it collapsed.

Share options, based on the current price and vested for a period of say 2 years can be a good incentive for someone whose decisions have direct impact on the share price.

 

[openseat]

I didn't realise that BA were in such dire straits. I hope that they pull out of it soon - I was planning to redeem some BA First flights. If they look shaky then I'm not going to risk the points.

 

[serfty]

Posted on the BBC News homepage:

BBC NEWS | Business | BA asks staff to work for nothing

British Airways is asking thousands of staff to work for nothing, for up to one month, to help the airline survive.

The appeal, sent by email to more than 30,000 workers in the UK, asks them to volunteer for between one week and one month's unpaid leave, or unpaid work.

BA's chief executive Willie Walsh has already agreed to work unpaid in July, forgoing his month's salary of £61,000. ...

 

[Nigelinoz]

BA pilots have agreed to swap shares for pay cuts.
BA sees blue sky as pilots swap shares for pay cuts - Times Online
BA sees blue sky as pilots swap shares for pay cuts

British Airways pilots will accept shares worth £13 million as part of a deal to save the airline £26 million a year

British Airways pilots have agreed to take a bet on the prosperity of their company by accepting shares worth £13 million as part of a deal to save the airline £26 million a year.
The arrangement is part of a draft agreement with BA’s 3,235 pilots for a package of wage cuts and productivity gains. The shares will not be granted until June 1, 2011, and cannot be sold for a minimum of three years after their allocation. The number that each pilot receives will depend on the stock’s price when they are granted.
BA’s shares have fallen by more than two thirds in the past 2½ years, as rising fuel bills and declining demand for first-class and business seats has badly hit the bottom line. They fell by a further 4.6p, or 3.3 per cent, to 132p yesterday.
Andrew Fitchie, an analyst for Collins Stewart, has a price target of 214p on the shares, meaning that by the time the pilots are granted their allocation, they could have missed out on some of the potential to make a profit on them.

 

[Nigelinoz]

BA accused of bullying as only 800 staff respond to the call to work for nothing

BA accused of bullying as only 800 staff respond to the call to work for nothing - Times Online

Unions stepped up their attacks on British Airways yesterday, accusing the management of “bullying” and being out of touch with staff after the airline revealed that only 800 of its employees had accepted its invitation to work for nothing.
The volunteers for unpaid work are among 6,940 staff who have signed up for a variety of cost-saving schemes, all of which amount to a pay cut, in a programme that the airline said would save it as much as £10 million.
The cost-saving schemes include taking unpaid leave for up to a year and switching from full-time to part-time work, either temporarily or permanently.

 

[Nigelinoz]

BA board take pay break but keep free flights - Times Online

The entire 11-member board of British Airways has agreed to work for nothing next month but is clinging to the free, unlimited, first-class travel perk granted to all past and present senior directors and their spouses for life.
Until now, only Willie Walsh, the chief executive, and Keith Williams, the finance director, had agreed to give up a month’s pay, cutting Mr Walsh’s salary this year to £674,000.
The move is the latest in a series to cut the costs of the struggling airline, in which 7,000 cabin crew staff have volunteered for some form of pay cut and 800 of them have agreed to work for nothing for between one week and one month. It emerged yesterday that in doing so, the 800 would also forfeit up to two days’ holiday entitlement.
In a statement yesterday, BA said: “The chairman and non-executive directors have volunteered to work for free in July. As stated in the company’s public report and accounts, non-executive directors are eligible for non-contractual travel concessions. Non-executive directors book their flights themselves and do so like any other passenger by contacting the BA sales team. They do not take precedence over other passengers — if there is availability on the flight that they want to travel on, they can book a seat. If it is full, they cannot displace another customer.”