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EXCLUSIVE: the new British Airways cabin crew pay offer revealed – big cuts for legacy crew

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British Airways has just given cabin crew details of the new contract and pay package for staff at London Heathrow which they must accept if they wish to remain with the airline.

It is VERY grim reading for legacy Eurofleet and Worldwide crew members, many of whom will have to accept a substantial pay cut of up to 50% if they wish to remain.

the new British Airways cabin crew pay offer revealed

What is the new British Airways cabin crew package?

BA is promising an OTE package of £24,000 for standard crew.   This comprises basic pay, flight pay and other allowances.

There is the potential for extra income on top, such as commission from in-flight sales.  There is a contributory pension scheme and optional health and insurance benefits.

It is worth noting that the unions have often claimed that British Airways ‘OTE’ figures are more than the majority of crew receive.  For example, the £24,000 figure includes the allowance that crews receive to pay for food in hotels whilst travelling.

Initial feedback is that even existing Mixed Fleet crew will be taking a cut in overall pay and benefits on this new contract although the exact figures are not available.

The contract allow for 30 days of annual leave, but this includes public holidays.  The equivalent for an office worker would be 22 days holiday, given that there are eight public holidays each year.

For clarity, there will be no ‘zero hours’ contracts offered.

New British Airways cabin crew contract

What grades are available?

The new structure has only two grades.  A substantial number of existing senior crew members will be required to downgrade to the level of ‘basic’ crew if they wish to remain.

  • Manager – leading a team of up to 21 cabin crew members
  • Cabin crew – standard crew roles

Some short-haul flights will have no managers on board.

Managerial crew must be willing to take on standard cabin crew roles on certain flights if required.

Crew must agree to work in departure and turnaround roles inside Heathrow if required.

What aircraft will be flown?

All cabin crew will fly a mix of long-haul and short-haul services.  

This will force many existing legacy crew members to resign.  Eurofleet (Heathrow short-haul crew) are unlikely to want to move to spending large amounts of time away from home.  Worldwide (Heathrow long-haul crew) are often based outside London – some even live abroad – and commute to London for each of their 3-4 monthly flights.  This lifestyle is not possible if a short-haul requirement is added.

One upside of combining the fleets is that those who remain will be able to bid for flights across the entire network.  At the moment Heathrow crew are restricted to the routes allocated to their particular fleet, ie Mixed Fleet, Eurofleet or Worldwide.

All crew will be licenced on the A320 and Boeing 777/787 family, with an additional third type on top – either A380, A350 or Boeing 747.

Conclusion

In general, this is what we expected to see – and, for legacy Heathrow crew, it isn’t pretty.  I would expect the majority of Eurofleet and Worldwide crew, who by definition have at least 10 years of British Airways service, to refuse to accept the new contracts.  Most will find it financially or logistically impossible to continue.

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Comments (503)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Rob says:
    16 May16 May 15:19

    Here’s an interesting one. Would you be happy to resign if you were given a BA Gold card and 250,000 Avios as an extra bonus?

    Before you say ‘no airline would do that’ ….. https://liveandletsfly.com/united-separation-packages/

    • Novice says:
      16 May16 May 15:50

      I would like to apologise in advance if I say anything inappropriate @Rob but I’d like to use HFP as example to clarify my frustration at the lack of equality in this world which is reflected here in comments.

      As analogy; as far as I know, Rhys is young and was recruited by Rob despite lack of experience in the industry. I’m sure everyone will agree that Rhys does a great job and is a good writer (more enthusiastic in his reviews than Rob has ever been). So, taking this as example; Anika has more experience than Rhys in the industry (I am guessing here from what I have read on the site). Let’s forget gender inequality for the moment and still should Rob pay Rhys a massively disproportionate pay just coz he lacked experience and was young to what he paid Anika?

      I’m not saying that an older, more experienced person should be paid same but the BA pay gap seems to be massive. It’s injustice. It’s like telling young people they have no value to add so are expendable in economic sense.

      • J says:
        16 May16 May 16:02

        You seem to fully endorse a race to the bottom. Conveniently though I expect you don’t think it should apply to you.

        • Novice says:
          16 May16 May 16:15

          Honestly I don’t have a clue what you mean.

          But I have made my point a lot of times now. I believe in equality and fairness. I just think legacy crews shouldn’t be talking about morals because they were fine to let the bad treatment commence for younger staff. They can say they don’t like this situation but I would like for ppl to not make it a morality issue because it’s not like anyone can brag about their own morals. I’m young but this is my perspective of the situation.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 16:28

            It would have been illegal for legacy crews unions to do anything about mixed fleet contracts. The UK’s anti union laws are very clear on this.

          • Novice says:
            16 May16 May 16:38

            I’m talking about the outrage. Where was the outrage? I have never heard anything in the media or otherwise. Are you saying if all legacy crews demanded fair conditions/ pay for everyone, it would have been bad?

            I’m done. I don’t have the patience for repeating myself or hoping for an equal world 🌍 when we have ppl like yourself. You are welcome to your inequal beliefs.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 16:41

            Spare me, you don’t hope for an equal world. You’re advocating a world where everyone is treated badly. Do you even understand how a union works? They can be outraged about all sorts of things but they represent their members, and they are very constrained by law on what and how they can take industrial action.

      • Rob says:
        16 May16 May 16:10

        Rhys knows far more about aviation (not loyalty, aviation) than the rest of the team put together, which is why we hired him. He has also run a non-aviation blog in the past (he knows more about WordPress than I do!) and is very ‘presentable’ to senior people as those who have met him will attest – he is not phased by chatting to Alex Cruz, Shai Weiss etc. His age is immaterial as indeed is his background, except to the extent that – as a new graduate – he didn’t have to resign another role to come to us and that was handy.

        • Novice says:
          16 May16 May 16:20

          Exactly. He was hired for his talent and potential value which is great and exactly my point. Talent and skill should be rewarded not age or so-called experience.

          And good on you Rob. But it may be because you are a northerner by birth 😂 so understand this.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 17:25

            Experience and the knowledge that it brings has value. Talent and skills should be rewarded too, but to say experience has no value is illogical and suggests no real world experience.

        • Mikeact says:
          16 May16 May 17:11

          Age doesn’t come into it when I meet people. When I first met Rhys, I just wished I’d have been as bright as him when I was younger !

      • Nik says:
        16 May16 May 16:32

        You make a very fair point and sadly, some people are selective and cannot reach an overall broader view on it. I don’t by any means believe you are endorsing a “race to the bottom” and think you’re actually exposing matters which are conveniently being hidden in the background in favour of overall BA bashing. Of course that doesn’t mean to say I believe BA are highly ethical/moral – they’re not and in the airline World, probably one of the most brutal.

        • Novice says:
          16 May16 May 16:42

          👍

          Weird thing is I’m younger than most here and I can’t believe the level of BS that I have read. But alas I give up.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 16:52

            You have no idea how old anyone else here is. I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. Get over going on about how young you supposedly are, it’s dull.

          • Nik says:
            16 May16 May 17:17

            Well I don’t know how young or old I am in comparison, but I don’t think age is necessary to define the quality, validity, balance and fairness when one is articulating their point. By far you have been very dignified and logical in the points you make and sadly the anonymous World and internet will always try their best to troll. Naturally some are personally affected and participating in the discussion here and I don’t blame them, but it would be difficult not to have a tunneled view of it and then continue to bash any other point of view that doesn’t conform to theirs. 🙂

          • Nik says:
            16 May16 May 17:18

            (Above comments refers to Novice btw)

  • KJ says:
    16 May16 May 15:52

    I just wanted to comment on a few bits, I am current Eurofleet crew, I’m post ’97 so I’m not ‘old’ contract, intact I was some of the last intakes before the introduction of mixed fleet.
    I currently live around 250 miles from Heathrow, so it’s not just WW crew who live further afield.

    BA never mentioned zero hour contracts, it was initially misquoted, current new contract crew have a 6 months unpaid leave clause in the contract that the company can use in situations like COVID (although I believe no one has been forced onto unpaid leave upto now) They probably want this in the new contract.

    In true BA style, most of us have not yet received the proposal so it’s always good to read about your new contract online with people who don’t even work here.

    A lot of us on EF are here by choice, having done long haul and have no desire to spend nights out of bed. There is also crew on EF who would embrace the mixed flying style flying, but mixed flying can be tough, some short haul days are multi sector or long ‘there & backs’ some of which are longer duty days than shorter long haul trips, these report as early as 0505 so a combination of long days, early morning and then into a long haul that will usually include an overnight sector as part of the trip with time changes, this will be tough with a minimum of 8 days off per month.

    As a more junior member of post ’97 but pre mixed fleet crew my pay isn’t over inflated, and I have to admit I think I’d struggle to live down south on what I earn now, which isn’t massively over £24k, that’s an average of £1600 a month take home, minus any salary sacrifice such as pension which for me is around £100 a month.
    Who can seriously afford to live near Heathrow, on £1500 a month?

    The comments from Nik on here scream jealousy and envy, we all have different experiences from the fleets, I’ve had great WW and MF flights, and equally I’ve had many WW and MF crews were the service was lacking. Often WW become complacent because they’ve done the job so long and often don’t take change, MF on the other hand the lack of experience sometimes shows, and also so does the loyalty to the company. If you’ve shown over 30 years of lolalty to the company why shouldn’t your pay reflect this?

    Changes need to be made to ensure the company survives, we know that…. But not by doing it the BA does, they’d get what they want with fair and meaningful negotiation, not taking the smash and grab tactic they are using.

    • Liz says:
      16 May16 May 16:12

      A happy crew results in happy customers. The way they are treating you is absolutely disgusting.

    • Nik says:
      16 May16 May 17:26

      How are my comments screaming of jealousy? Care to explain. I hope you haven’t mixed me up with comments from other members here who are or have been Mixed Fleet crew (won’t mention names as one can scroll back and verify for themselves). In fact, far from it, I have tried my level best to be as balanced as possible, finding critique where legacy fleets are to critique but also crediting legacy fleets where it’s due. Likewise, consistently I have bashed BA too that whilst it makes business sense to do what they’re doing, I have consistently maintained that the new proposed pay is by no means good, especially in London but have also conversely highlighted that pay in general for “frontline” workers (who form quite a significant portion of people living in London) are in general underpaid as a whole in the country and in the process highlighting a general social issue plaguing us. So how it “screams” of jealousy I don’t know. I haven’t in the process, like other comments, mentioned my career or compared my pay or my job and consequently complained in the process. So hopefully, I will give the benefit of the doubt that you were meaning somebody else and not me, but if you were meaning it to be me, then frankly I think there needs to be a “reality check” as there are proper regular trolls on here that are far more nonsensical than me. Whilst I follow the site regularly, I only occasionally read comments and even more infrequently submit a comment myself!

      My best wishes to you, and trust me, I really hope you (and everyone else affected) gets the best result possible. I would not gain any happiness at all if the end result ruined your whole livelihood.

      • J says:
        16 May16 May 17:30

        For someone who is so “balanced” you seem very relaxed about radically changing people’s pay and conditions overnight. I hope something similar never happens to you.

        • Nik says:
          16 May16 May 17:36

          I appear “relaxed” because there is frankly no point in creating “outrage” on a website like this and by using flowery, borderline dramatic language, it does nothing for the blood pressure, one, and two it doesn’t actually change or make things any better for people who are directly affected by this (in fact it will only further rile them up more the more negative a post sounds/comes across) nor does it help “change someone’s mind” who might be opposing the view.

          On your point of forced contract changes, yes that has happened in my line of work, there was industrial action, thankfully with a lot of public support too, but sadly it went nowhere. The fact this is possible is another matter altogether that entangles a problem on a broader societal level as well as political front and one that should be raised as a grievance to MPs consistently than on here 🙂

          • Nik says:
            16 May16 May 17:41

            For the record J, I have a good handful of people (including in legacy fleets), who work across various functions of BA, that I can call genuine friends thanks to my partner who works in the industry too. It is devastating on a personal level and a point of view I have not shied away from mentioning amongst my other “relaxed” points. BA is brutal, but very sadly a lot of times in our society, it is not against the law.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 17:51

            As a Brit living in Germany I prefer their mindset around employment rights. Workers here are better off and its a more equal society vs the UK where everyrhing seems to favour management and the bosses. Of course Germany isn’t utopia although for anyone at risk of redundancy (or worried about a coronavirus epidemic!) it’s a better place to be.

        • Nik says:
          16 May16 May 17:56

          Yes agree with you! The fact the employment rights at least at the level they are is definitely credited to EU policies, with those laws clocks ticking come December 31st 2020 and the public highly head over heels over the current government, sadly it only looks to be getting worse after that. I know we might not have got off on the right “footing” so to speak on our previous comments, I just want to say if you indeed are legacy crew and hence going to be affected by this abysmal action by BA, I sincerely hope something better works out for you. 🙂 Genuinely.

          • J says:
            16 May16 May 18:02

            I am not crew, although like you I have friends in both (legacy and MF) and we agree in wishing them all well 🙂 Indeed the lack of employment rights in the UK is alarming. Any MF crew for example who are made redundant and who’ve been with BA for less than 2 years (which will be quite a few) are entitled to nothing in terms of statutory redundancy pay.

        • Nik says:
          16 May16 May 18:11

          Yes I know it’s bad. Sadly I just can’t see the situation improving on the employee protection front in the UK at least in the medium term and I’m generally an optimist. Well I’m glad that broadly we both agree on the core principles of the human side of things here. Fingers crossed that at least the best possible outcome can be achieved, but likewise it is inevitable they will never be as cushty as the legacy contracts, but that’s purely a result of the way the aviation market has been going, blame Michael O’ Leary, Tony Fernandes, Stelios for that collectively, though yet again, balancing things out, people too have been content that this has made aviation far more accessible as a hole, sadly it’s the frontline that have to take the brunt!

      • Joy laughlin says:
        16 May16 May 19:13

        Perhaps you should refrain from commenting on the details of a job that you don’t actually do and obviously have little understanding of ..I have been flying 39 years today and have experience of another profession also but wouldn’t dream of giving my opinion of the terms and conditions of a job I’ve not been involved in

        • Nik says:
          16 May16 May 21:01

          Clearly I’m not the only one. It has been out there and there have been 400+ comments out of which I’m sure a huge majority do not work in the industry or have any idea. I at least have deeper insight into the industry thanks to the other half. So if crew didn’t want it publicly torn apart, they shouldn’t have leaked it in the first place, and best still, they shouldn’t have attended Amy James’ session which the union strictly advised against 🙂

          • Nik says:
            16 May16 May 21:03

            Of course, now it’s the public domain, anyone is from anywhere can say anything they wish. For one, mine have definitely been the more moderate of comments here.

  • Eloise Faggi says:
    16 May16 May 17:16

    If BA who are sitting on BILLIONS of euros profit
    are allowed to get away with this, using the coronavirus pandemic as a excuse, ( not forgetting management have a long held desire to get rid of legacy contracts) what’s to stop any organisation or company following suit?Why bother with any contract anywhere if they can be ripped up on any downturn? Some of legacy crew have worked for 30 years and more helping BA achieve billions of pounds of profits and do not deserve this disgusting and unnecessary treatment. Part time could easily be offered until the lucrative aviation industry picks up again.
    BA ‘our national carrier’ should not be allowed to get away with this opportunistic attack!
    Beware anybody anywhere who has a contract if it does…..

    • marcw says:
      16 May16 May 17:36

      MF have worked and helped MORE than WW or EF crew. MF work more, get PAID less, and this has been so for years. WW and EF have SHOWN ZERO solidarity towards MF. From a customer pov, it seems like EF and WW are “entitled”, while MF are “key workers”. It’s time for this dichotomy to end, so ba employees can fight for industry comparable contracts.

      • J says:
        16 May16 May 17:44

        Zero solidarity? Amusing for someone so right wing to use the word. But anyway the law is very clear – Worldwide/Euro fleets have no influence and can take no action regarding Mixed Fleet. The UK’s strict anti union laws ensure this, and so joined up industrial action across fleets for example would be illegal.

  • CV3V says:
    16 May16 May 17:31

    Think I preferred HfP when it used to be about collecting points and peoples posts were generally informed and constructive i.e. worth reading and considering. It is in times of trouble and need when you see people for who they truly are.

    • J says:
      16 May16 May 18:13

      There is certainly some jealousy. Someone referencing crew living in France and gawping at their Facebook pictures claiming their lifestyle shows they’re overpaid. I also don’t think it’s fair to reference pay in relation to other jobs where people “work harder”. Nurses should get paid more – that doesn’t mean BA crew are overpaid. There’ll always be someone who needs a job more and will do it for less. Do people realise where a race to the bottom will take us?

      For whoever mentioned that crew should work harder I like this quote.

      “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.”

    • Genghis says:
      16 May16 May 20:12

      +1

    • Craig W says:
      18 May18 May 09:43

      it is easy to get wrapped up in the comments and there has been a huge amount of politics and ideological sharing of views on here recently which has led people to bite (including me on occasion).

      I agree 100% it is better to just stick to the points…

  • Paul74 says:
    16 May16 May 17:36

    Yep

  • Edward says:
    16 May16 May 18:12

    Coming from a Mixed Fleet employee, full time, this would be a pay cut by even our measures. I generally clear around 2k after tax and NI etc. Last year I earned around 7K more gross pay than these new figures would allow. These disastrous new contracts are a cut to the already low paid workforce, while being even more concerning for our legacy colleagues. I hate when people say that cabin crew who could cope with Mixed fleet contracts must live at home or be with the company for a year to see the world. This wasn’t the case for so many but I fear it now could be by force as employees can’t afford to carry on with the role.

  • Briandt says:
    16 May16 May 18:49

    And another one, ‘No more BA’. Until her daughter no doubt pops up with a discounted deal..we will see.

    • Briandt says:
      16 May16 May 18:52

      ps And five hours drive is nothing whatsoever to do with it, that’s her choice.

  • Duck Ling says:
    16 May16 May 20:01

    After reading several of the comments on here I don’t think some of the posters are being completely honest about their link to BA or their motivations. Some supposed ‘passengers’ certainly have a) a helluva lot of inside knowledge on BA’s fleets and their operation and b) a perhaps unhealthy obsession with the rights and wrongs of the legacy crew earning more.

    Interesting.

    • Carlos says:
      16 May16 May 21:38

      They are usually BA managers

    • Rich says:
      17 May17 May 12:58

      Duck – there’s no conspiracy, most readers are frequent flyers in premium cabins and talk to the crew, in doing so we all pick up a lot of insight from behind the scenes and so are well informed on what is actually quite simple stuff.

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