Bmi’s acquisition will make 1,200 workers redundant: BA
British Airways (BA) has confirmed that as many as 1,200 people will lose their jobs in its £172 million takeover of rival carrier Bmi.
The warning emerged just a day after BA announced that 600 workers at Gatwick Airport were at risk of losing their jobs or be move to another company as a part of its cost-cutting efforts.
BA claims that without its acquisition of the Bmi from Lufthansa, all of the 2,700 jobs at the loss-making carrier would have been lost.
The acquisition will see nearly 1,100 cabin crew, engineers and pilots transferring from Bmi to BA. Additional 400 passenger services jobs at Heathrow Airport will also be secured.
Speaking on the topic, BA chief executive officer Keith Williams said, "Bmi is heavily loss- making and is not a viable business as it stands today. Our proposals would secure around 1,500 jobs that would otherwise have been lost."
The carrier has started consultations with unions on potential job losses. Unions have expressed disappointment at the scale of the potential job losses, but stressed that they would try their best to alleviate the losses.
To get regulatory approval for the takeover, BA’s parent firm, International Airlines Group (IAG), has agreed to quit numerous of Bmi’s take-off and landing slots at Heathrow Airport.
