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More details about the new British Airways low-cost London Gatwick operation emerge

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With a deal now done with pilot union BALPA to cut pay and conditions, British Airways is pushing on with its plans to launch a new low-cost operation at London Gatwick next year.

This operation is ‘low cost’ only in terms of its operating structure. It will not be ‘low cost’ from the point of view of the passenger, and the flights will be fully BA branded as they were pre-covid.

Flyertalk published an email which had been sent to ex-BA cabin crew members to ask if they wanted to apply to work at the new operation.

British Airways A320

It is described as ‘a new start-up airline’ albeit under British Airways ownership. The airline will be:

“a full-service premium airline competing on leisure routes from Gatwick, operating a range of European point-to-point flying.”

What salary is on offer?

The basic pay on offer is £15,848. This will be topped up by ‘duty pay’ (an extra payment based on hours flown), commission on in-flight sales and allowances.

The maximum salary achievable, with meal and duty allowances added, is £24,000. Crew have claimed in the past that there is always a disparity between BA’s claims of ‘maximum earnings’ and the reality so you should assume that £24,000 will be difficult to achieve.

One way that BA is keeping costs down is by ending night stops. All aircraft will return to Gatwick in the evening so there will be no hotel bills for crew. This will impact the ability to run early morning departures from, for example, Jersey as an aircraft would first need to arrive from London.

The cabin crew hired for these contracts will not work the Caribbean long-haul flights departing from Gatwick. The jobs are exclusively short haul, although many crew with family or other commitments will appreciate being in their own beds every night.

Flights are scheduled to launch in March 2022 according to the email. This would presumably be 27th March, which is the first day of the IATA Summer season and is when the ‘Summer’ slot allocation comes into play.

Routes have not yet been announced. The first year is expected to use no more than 17 aircraft, only half of what Gatwick used in the Summer peak in 2019, so it will not be a return the historic normal Summer flying pattern. We will let you know when flights are bookable.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (102)

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

  • Schnipps says:
    6 Nov6 November 05:51

    It’s crazy how little cabin crews get paid for the amount of training required for the job, or the amount of bs they have to take.

    • Yorkieflyer says:
      6 Nov6 November 10:59

      Six weeks training isn’t it?

    • Aaron C says:
      6 Nov6 November 11:34

      How much training is it really? I’ve always thought of it more as a hospitality/ retail job.

      • Rhys says:
        6 Nov6 November 14:48

        It’s a hospitality/retail job until something goes wrong and then you’re glad they’ve had 6 weeks training.

      • Tim says:
        6 Nov6 November 21:04

        Good god

      • 1ATL says:
        7 Nov7 November 03:00

        How many hospitality and retail jobs can you reel off that train you in administration of emergency medication, defibrillation, delivering a baby, fighting fire in an enclosed space, anti terrorism techniques, overpowering and subduing unruly customers? Not to mention being fully aware of all safety notices that update on a regular basis and the location and use of all safety related equipment in board as well as being proficient in their use… all of which has to be refreshed on an annual basis with a high pass requirement, otherwise you don’t work again? Please don’t tell me the real reason they’re there is to mix a G&T and deliver rubbish food?

  • Jose Marques says:
    6 Nov6 November 06:14

    I do hope Funchal remains at Heathrow airport and does not move back to Gatwick.

  • Jimbo says:
    6 Nov6 November 06:35

    A. They’ll get their crew. People still want / need jobs. . And
    B. holiday starved Brits will pack these flights as the public in general don’t care about working conditions of anyone other than themselves.
    That’s capitalism

    • Jonathan says:
      6 Nov6 November 17:25

      A. You’ve clearly not tried to recruit anyone recently! It’s very tough out there at the moment for my friends with businesses. They literally can’t find anyone for entry level office/admin roles offering £25k/year & that’s in the north of England so cost of living much lower.

      • Alex Sm says:
        6 Nov6 November 23:57

        Brexit means Brexits. Brits are not up for low-paid and ‘dirty’ jobs… but many good EU workers are gone

  • Mij says:
    6 Nov6 November 06:53

    Do you know if you can use Avios on the routes. What are the routes too?

    • Catalan says:
      6 Nov6 November 07:03

      Rob’s last paragraph starts with “Routes have not yet been announced”

  • Chris says:
    6 Nov6 November 06:55

    I wish this endeavour the success it deserves…

  • Ian says:
    6 Nov6 November 07:22

    No night stops would suggest Jersey stays at LHR.

    • planeconcorde says:
      6 Nov6 November 14:41

      I was hoping that might be the case too. Although it could be just wishful thinking on my part.

  • Dev says:
    6 Nov6 November 07:22

    How the hell can Meal allowances be considered part of the salary?

    It is surely an allowance for staff as they won’t have an alternative option… otherwise BA (or any employer) would not offer it…

    • Dave says:
      6 Nov6 November 08:13

      The allowances are just tax-free cash – there is no expectation or validation that it is actually spent on meals.

      Nothing to stop someone fasting, bring pot noodles, etc. down-route and pocketing the cash.

      While the rest of us have to provide receipts for expenses, there is some agreement with HMRC where they can just give them tax-free cash instead.

      • John says:
        6 Nov6 November 08:25

        But aren’t meals provided, they don’t have the opportunity to buy anything (except from the Bob trolley)

      • T says:
        6 Nov6 November 08:48

        All crew now pay full tax on all allowances, sorry to burst your ill informed bubble. The days of tax free are over .

        • Skyflier says:
          7 Nov7 November 03:49

          Not true. Some crew allowances are tax free, some are not. I just checked my last pay cheque. “Non taxable” in black and white

    • Dave says:
      6 Nov6 November 08:17

      See the case of Mello v British Airways – an employment court ruled the allowances were part of regular pay, to the extent that a crew trainer (who didn’t fly anywhere!) should get them, and it should form part of holiday pay, etc.

      • Dev says:
        6 Nov6 November 09:12

        Plenty of employers who offer tax free per diem subsistence allowances for variety of reasons but they don’t advertise it as part of the employees salary…

  • JohnT says:
    6 Nov6 November 07:34

    Just hoping NAP on the list and we can move flight back from LHR easily if originally booked for LGW and moved to LHR after the first false start!

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