An Assessment of British Airways Dispute and its Employee Relations Essay

An Assessment of British Airways Dispute and its Employee Relations - Essay Example British Airways concentrates mainly on its management approach which is considered to be inward-looking. Moreover, the company also focuses on the retention of its different routes and the outcome has been unsatisfied customers. Under the management of Bob Ayling's, British Airways faced industrial action, the employees were protesting against cost reduction which was aimed at improving the airline’s profitability. Subsequent to the earlier strikes and the cost reduction plan, the morale of workforce deteriorated resulting in continued unrest since then. In 2005, the union members protested against the decision to leave out a group of workers, replacing them with the agency staff when the company failed to renew their contract. The company incurred a lot of costs due to this and several passengers were disrupted. In October 2006, the company faced dispute which resulted from a check-in Christian worker putting on his faith’s visible symbol. In 2007, the cabin crew plann ed a strike action, they were protesting against the salary changes. Later it was withdrawn before it took off. According to Books Llc, (2010), British airways and the union Unite relations have continued to be turbulent, especially in 2009 and 2010. It manly resulted from the proposed changes of the cabin crew working conditions as the company was facing the global financial crisis. On December2009, a strike ballot was conducted regarding the working practices changes. It was supported by many especially the Christmas 2009, planned action. However, the industrial action was declared illegal by the court. On February, a re-ballot was held. The negotiations that were ongoing did not stop the strike action which took place in March. The company punished the staff involved through the withdrawal of the travel perks. Today the company is still faced by different challenges and has been trying to find a lasting solution to this. Competitive nature of the business and the rationale behind management proposals British airways is ranked as the ninth airline worldwide with regard to the total number of passengers it can carries. The airline network in the international market is considered to be the strongest. This is because as compared to other airlines, it operates in several destinations internationally. British airways has its base at London Heathrow which is the best location. This location is known to be central to the European air travel and is the leading business hub. The airline connections to various destinations globally are convenient and timely and this is the company’s main advantage of being situated at London Heathrow. Some of the company’s operations which are short haul have been moved to London Gatwick. This came up as a result of the increasing air traffic in Heathrow. In both the international and the domestic market, the company is faced with competition. The company’s main competitors in the domestic markets include airline s like Easy Jet which incur lower costs. In the international level, it has to face several giants which include Lufthansa and American Airlines. British airways main business in both the international and the domestic routes is to provide air services that are scheduled to passengers and cargo. The scheduled passenger service and cargo service of the company are separate divisions that operate in an independent way. The scheduled passenger services contribute a greater percentage to the company’