CAMPAIGN ORIGINS
You are probably reading this because you've been asked to lend your valued support to a campaign to persuade British Airways to rescind three unfair clauses of its otherwise reasonable new policy on reduced-rate Staff Travel. These clauses affect only a few thousand of British Airways' more elderly and most loyal pensioners but the effect for many of them is life-changing.
The situation is too complex to explain fully on a postcard or in a brief letter and the main objective of this website is to give you the full reasons why we ask for your support. This page contains most of the detail - for even more on specific aspects please follow the hyperlinks.
Since at least the 1930's British Airways and its predecessors, in common with every airline in the world, has offered its staff the opportunity to experience travel on its flights at a reduced rate on a space-available basis, ie if there were empty seats on a flight after all the passengers had been boarded. Similar benefits are also offered to the staff of other airlines as part of a complex system of Interline Agreements.
Although these privileges or entitlements have been varied in detail from time to time, they have been granted in one form or another continuously since after the Second World War. Although staff passengers never displaced the airline's commercial passengers, the facility offers pensioners especially a valuable and appreciated benefit.
Staff who had given the company significant service - the period has varied and for a long time was 15 years though this is now 5 years - were able to enjoy these privileges, also called entitlements, after they had retired and until they died. Such perks are not unusual, nor are they confined to airline employees. Many people enjoy private health insurance, stock options and other benefits which extend into retirement so British Airways' pensioners are not unique
NEW POLICY
British Airways is now proposing to bring in a new Staff Travel policy which will favour the interests of the current staff to the particular detriment of a few thousand already retired elderly pensioners who will lose their privileges and entitlements entirely. It is a selective penalty without reason or justification and pensioners generally are incensed at the blatant inequity of the changes. British Airways knows it is penalising these pensioners, many of whom took voluntary redundancy when the airline was in trouble during the 1970's, 80's and 90's assured by the airline that they would not lose their Staff Travel entitlements in retirement. The other salient factor is, of course, that existing pensioners are a group that is naturally declining in number year by year. Needless to say, these people have no representation or choice in the matter.
The changes are unfair and have neither the benefit of cost saving which British Airways claims nor even the favour of logic. More significantly, and not reflecting credit on British Airways' openness and transparency, these changes have not been promulgated in the same way as the airline is bound by law to advise pensioners of changes in the amount they will be paid in their pension. Instead they have been published under an obscure file name on a website to which only pensioners with access to and knowledge of computers can have access, and even then only after they have applied to the airline for a password. The changes were also mentioned in part in the quarterly newspaper British Airways circulates but the circulation list is not comprehensive and the newspaper is not received by all pensioners.
British Airways claims that it discussed the changes with pensioners through its Retired Staff Liaison Council. However, this Council is overseen by a British Airways manager and their "discussions" were held in secret and under threat of a legally enforceable Confidentiality clause. British Airways' pensioners are not asking for a major alteration to the new policy. They do not challenge the airline's assertion that it has the right to vary staff travel privileges or entitlements at its discretion. Nor do they seek any change in the airline's policy towards future pensioners or current staff..
OUR REQUEST
Specifically they ask only that three clauses be amended, none of which affect current staff or other policies:
1 the removal from existing pensioners of the new limitation on their entitlement to Staff Travel;
2 the retention of present Staff Travel entitlements including Interline travel for widows and widowers of existing pensioners;
3 the continuation of the right of existing pensioners to bank Long Service awards they have earned.
We have shown publicly that meeting these three requests will certainly not affect the airline's profitability and may actually improve it marginally.
British Airways claims that the changes it proposes to make will bring British Airways policy into line with other airlines. That is not true, in fact almost every other airline continues to offer the same privileges and entitlements as British Airways has done until now. We ask that British Airways treats its existing pensioners at least as well as it treats the pensioners of other airlines whose right to travel on British Airways will remain unchanged
When a big and respected company behaves unfairly to a small group of its people who have no way to contest the unfairness, the injustice is felt by all its people. Conversely, by relieving that small group of these unjustified and unequal penalties will lead to a boost in the overall support of all its people. That support is evidently valued by British Airways which earlier this year sent a full colour, four-page leaflet to every pensioner asking for their support for a third runway at Heathrow.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ACTION
Your support for our campaign for fairness towards existing pensioners is much appreciated. Please bring your concern and support to the notice of Mr Willie Walsh, the CEO, and to Mr Martin Broughton, the Chairman by signing a pre-printed postcard postcard or writing a letter and sending it as soon as possible to them at British Airways, UB7 0GB.
Other postcards are available for you to sign and send to your MP, to Rt Hon Lord Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to Rt Hon David Cameron MP, the Leader of the Opposition, to Nick Clegg MP, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and to any other person of influence you know of, asking them to lend their support to our campaign. (Click here for addresses and contacts)
If you wish to download a copy of the postcard and print it yourself on to thin card or include it as a letter, click here.
You can comment on any aspect of the campaign at a new weblog - click here for access