By Chris Bradley
It is likely that many jobs will go at Gatwick Airport because of cost cutting going on at British Airways. They will be outsourcing certain roles such as loaders, drivers and baggage handlers and this could mean that 400 jobs will be under threat there, although there will of course be a chance that the employees can continue under new management. The more concerning announcement was that 170 management support employees and customer service staff will face redundancy.
The airline is currently in discussion with unions about the cuts as they need to do something to be more competitive on short haul flights. They want to be stronger and safeguard jobs for the future and want to work out how they are going to be able to do this most effectively.
They will be outsourcing some jobs and combining other roles to make things more efficient. They are hoping to find those ramp workers a role with the new external supply company and also minimise the disruption to the other roles that will be going. They explained that they have to balance good service and value for money with remaining competitive in the short haul market and so need to do what they can to cut costs. A union representative, Gavin Davis said that the announcement was a big morale disaster for staff and with the Olympics coming up, it is an important time for morale to be high and they will be talking to British Airways to make sure that things are dealt with as fairly as possible for their members.
