British Airways axes entire Hong Kong crew ahead of closure of base in city next month

British Airways axed its entire Hong Kong crew on Wednesday ahead of the closure of its local base next month, the airline’s head office confirmed.

Unionists said 85 flight attendants were immediately laid off to “prevent strikes”, slamming the move as “inconsiderate”.

Britain’s national airline, which has been flying to the city for 82 years, said it would close its Hong Kong base at the end of October. The carrier operates four daily flights on the Hong Kong to London Heathrow route.

“While we are really grateful to our crew in Hong Kong for all of their hard work and dedication over the years, our strategic model going forward is to operate this route entirely with London-based crew,” a company spokeswoman said, implying that flights would not be affected.

She said employees in Hong Kong had been told about the closure, but did not say when.

The decision was made after a “detailed and thorough” review of the company’s global operation, she said.

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“We have promised our cabin crew based in Hong Kong our full support at this time,” the spokeswoman said, adding the company was confident that service level would be maintained.

Representatives from the BA Hong Kong International Cabin Crew Association were expected to meet the media on Wednesday evening.

In a press release, the union said 85 flight attendants were laid off.

“The association thinks the company is just trying to save cost, as the more experienced employees have more ideal salaries and welfare,” it said.

We have promised our cabin crew based in Hong Kong our full support at this time

BA spokeswoman

It also said the sudden termination of contracts was to prevent employees from staging a strike.

Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho, a commercial pilot, said the airline should have notified its Hong Kong employees earlier.

“[The workers] could at least have started looking for a new job,” Tam said.

BA could also have asked whether the flight attendants would have liked to work from other bases, he added.

Tam also noted there would be fewer Cantonese-speaking staff serving on flights, meaning the experience for Hongkongers could be affected.

BA is part of International Airlines Group, which includes Spanish carrier Iberia and Ireland’s Aer Lingus. According to its financial report, the company generated total revenues of £12.2 billion (US$16.6 billion) last year.

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Local carrier Cathay Pacific Airways, which “code shares” flights with BA, last year underwent a massive restructuring involving laying off about 600 staff.

The plan slashed 190 managers and 400 non-management staff from the company, but did not affect frontline workers such as pilots and flight attendants.

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