As chaotic scenes continue to grip airports around the UK, an experienced pilot with Britain's national carrier has warned that more hard times are set to come. The British Airways (BA) pilot has also said that there are certain times of the summer that people should not book flights for.
The pilot, whose identity has been kept secret, spoke to the Mirror that the airline will continue to experience problems all the way through to the winter. It comes as passengers find themselves in crazy queues at airports across the nation, including at Bristol, with floods of flights being cancelled or delayed as well.
Speaking about life at BA currently, the pilot said morale is at its lowest ever level and lots of senior staff are considering leaving their job. On top of this, pilots are suffering from burnout.
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The pilot said that the issues lie with what has been seen as a mismanagement during the Covid pandemic and a "knee jerk" reaction which led to staff being cut. The impact on the airline is that now it is facing a struggle to get its services running to pre-pandemic standards.
Looking ahead, the pilot said the picture is looking bleak for the next few months, which may dismay passengers looking to get away for the summer holidays. The pilot said they expect more planes to be grounded, with BA already having already cancelled 10 per cent of services between March and October.
The pilot said: "A pilot I was speaking to the other day said he hadn't been worked this hard in 15 years at the company. We're full on at the moment. There are not many happy people right now. It is a perfect storm."
They went onto say that there appears to be much lower demand for flights in general as businesses and people look to save money. The pilot said people have been left asking how they can get around the losses while getting as much help and money from the Government at the same time.
"An airline isn't a charity, they're there to protect the share holders, but it's been pretty cut throat," the pilot said. "They cut all the jobs that they wanted to cut and furloughed everyone. When demand slowly came back, it was mixed in with the government strategy to restart the aviation industry, which was appalling."
The pilot added that a combination of issues - Covid testing, Brexit and rule changes - has also caused more confusion from the Government. They said that in the end, when the industry reopened, BA was not ready for the demand.
They said: "We had no warning as an industry. For me, being fully back online, you need two months' warning.
"The industry was given weeks. There was no time.
"That time frame is for someone who is on the company books and has experience. To do a recruitment campaign and then training and security checks, that takes months."
During the pandemic, the pilot said many colleagues left BA and found work elsewhere, many with better hours and pay. "The airlines didn't realise people would go," they said.
"The fire and rehire by Heathrow and pay cut - people didn't want to do it anymore. The blame is across the whole industry."
Speaking about the current situation, the pilot said there are mixed messages being received by those working in the industry. They added: "They're not admitting they're short on pilots.
"We might be correctly crewed by winter time. There is no chance this will be sorted this summer. The last month (August) might be okay.
"But new staff don't want to come because they know the pay has been cut and everyone is doing overtime. That's everyone: baggage handlers, cabin crew, all the rest."
Reflecting on plans people might have for the summer and if they should book a flight, the pilot's advice was: "If you're looking at going on an easyJet from Gatwick in the school holidays in Alicante, probably not. Maybe midweek out of the school holidays, at a low demand time, yeah go for it."
The pilot also said BA's rotas are full, meaning employees are not able to take on extra shifts due to strict rules. Because of this, back-up crews are being used to cover fatigue and illness, using up possible help before the summer holidays, which could lead to more cancellations.
Recent surveys compiled by BA pilots' union Balpa seen by the Mirror show how low morale is, with 90 per cent saying they do not consider the airline as one to stay with for their whole career and 77.5 per cent are seeking employment elsewhere, with the pilot believing many will head to budget rival Jet2 when they launch a recruitment drive this year. "People are stressed out and they're leaving," the pilot said.
"Everyone is working so hard. The union has said they have seen very high levels of fatigue reporting."
When asked what BA should do to help with the situation, the pilot said the airline should consider doing more to resolve low staffing levels, saying that a £1,000 golden hello to entice new workers was not having the desired affect. They added that despite the tough conditions, flight teams were sticking together and the fact planes are becoming fully booked again was "amazing".
"It would've been even better if the industry had a chance to prepare for this," they continued. "By the end of the summer the tables will have turned in terms of negotiating terms and conditions for staff. During Covid they had us by the necks."
A BA spokesperson said: "While it’s disappointing to hear this view from one of our more than four thousand world class pilots, we offer an industry leading career path for our flight crew including the opportunity to work on a range of new aircraft, flying to a variety of global destinations with an extremely competitive salary and package. Because of our approach, we have never had an issue attracting or retaining flight crew."
They added that it has offered a five per cent pay award this year and has one of the best packages on offer in the aviation industry and a "world class" training facility at Heathrow. The airline also said pilots are not flying when tired and the most recent cancellations are included in the 10 per cent figure for March to October.
A Balpa spokesperson said: "The closure of the company’s Edinburgh base and the severe reduction in terms and conditions made during the Covid pandemic have clearly affected attitudes towards the company. Pilots took these reductions and changes to support the company and protect jobs during very difficult times.
"These now need to be reversed. Several solutions to improve life for BA CityFlyer pilots have been presented to the company and we strongly encourage the company to implement these without delay."
