BRITISH Airways has axed the post of travel trade relationships manager and disbanded its three regional director positions as part of the airline’s £225m cost-cutting management restructure.
Currently the responsibility of John Henton, the travel trade relations role will be switched to BA’s head of leisure sales, Tricia Warwick, next month.
Henton has been responsible for developing relationships with trade associations such as ABTA, the Guild of Business Travel Agents and the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association since taking on the role seven years ago.
But in a move designed to ensure its sales force gets closer to trade bodies and understands key issues, BA has decided to transfer Henton’s responsibilities to Warwick’s team.
BA is evaluating an alternative position for Henton within the company. BA chief executive Bob Ayling was also thrashing out further management changes over the weekend.
These include the future of director of passenger and cargo business Charles Gurassa, whose role has been axed, and John Wood and George Cooper, whose posts as London-based regional directors of The Americas and Europe respectively, have also been scrapped.
David Noyes, who was regional director of Asia, has been appointed BA’s new director of alliances and franchises taking over the role of John Patterson, who will now be responsible for working on the company’s bid to buy into LOT Polish Airlines.
Noyes will report directly to Carl Michel, drafted in from British Airways’ German subsidiary Deutsche BA where he was chief executive, to run BA’s newly-created commercial unit.
Michel will be responsible for all of BA’s commercial activities, including world sales, marketing, alliances, cargo and airline subsidiaries.
Marketing director Martin George and head of worldwide sales Dale Moss, who previously had a direct reporting line to Ayling, will now come under Michel’s wing.
BA’s cost-cutting drive sees the number of executives reporting to Ayling slashed from 15 to nine to create a tighter management structure. Furthermore, 300 senior managerial jobs will go as part of an overall reduction of staff by 1,000.
Ayling said: “This new structure is crisp and efficient, designed to improve customer service and internal performance. This is an evolutionary but still radical approach.”
Meanwhile, BA has filled one of its two new senior positions covering the UK corporate market.
Niels Conradsen has been appointed general manager corporate sales after a spell at courier company TNT where he headed global sales.
He will look after BA’s corporate agencies and clients while the position of general manager field sales covering smaller business travel houses remains unfilled.
The two posts were previously combined as general manager business sales headed up by John Morgan, who recently quit the airline to join rival British Midland (Travel Weekly September 6).
BA’s head of UK and Ireland sales, Tiffany Hall, said the restructure was designed to provide a greater focus to business travel agents.