BRITISH Airways is back in the firing line – and
staff at one of its BA Travel Shops are holding the
guns.
An angry BATS agent wrote to Travel Weekly this week to say
retailers were “miffed” the airline has rewarded Heathrow ground
staff with a pair of tickets to fly anywhere on the network, but
has not extended the offer to about 300 staff at the 19 Travel
Shops across the UK.
The outburst follows an agent backlash last month over free
tickets issued to some 17,000 BA staff at a cost of about £4
million (Travel Weekly September 3).
The reward was in recognition of staff efforts during the
chaotic last week of August, during which BA cancelled more than
130 flights due to a shortage of check-in staff and technical
problems.
The BATS agent, who did not wish to be named, said her
colleagues felt “really quite angry” to learn they were not
eligible for the tickets.
She said it added to their “insult” over BA’s recent
Premium Cabin promotion, which rewarded agents with a chocolate bar
and can of cola for selling a premium seat worth thousands of
pounds.
“BA wanted us to help when it was all falling apart but now we
are forgotten because we work for a subsidiary,” she said.
“Every second or third customer was asking us to deal with a
lost bag, cancellation or delay and some of the encounters were
aggressive. Heathrow check-in staff were the ones bringing the
company to its knees, so why are they being rewarded?” she
said.
A BA spokeswoman said the airline was “hugely grateful” for the
work BATS staff performed. “There are arguments for a range of
staff to receive the tickets but we need to draw the line
somewhere,” she said.