BALPA’s General Secretary, Jim McAuslan,
commented; ‘Today our thoughts are with all the
dedicated bmi baby pilots and staff who worked
to make the airline a success over many years
and who are now struggling to find employment.
But although the last flights may have
taken off, BALPA will continue to support our
members to ensure they get justice and find good
quality jobs as soon as possible.
‘Pilots are not to blame for this closure and
have continued to operate professionally and
safely with the threat of redundancy looming.
But they have been badly let down on many
fronts.
Employees are now left as the ones
“holding the baby”.
‘Lufthansa has let pilots down by keeping us at
arm’s length from would-be buyers, pressing us
to accept cuts in pay and conditions with the
false hope of a promising future, and even
accepting training payments from pilots joining
the company earlier this year.
‘The new management is letting pilots down, and
although BA always made it clear that bmi baby
did not fit into their business plan and would
be closed, it has taken an extremely
parsimonious approach to redundancy payments,
done nowhere near enough to provide people with
a future in British Airways itself, and even
refused to write off the training bonds provided
by new pilots. We have recently met the BA Chief
Executive and hope that our description of the
plight these pilots are facing may mean a change
of stance.
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