British Airways close to union deal as Lufthansa feels strain

Bloomberg

British Airways is nearing a possible agreement on pay with check-in staff that could head off a strike and prevent further disruption after the carrier scrapped thousands of flights amid a staffing crunch.
Talks with the Unite union have progressed and a deal is close, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before terms are finalised. Unite staff at London Heathrow airport previously voted to walk out.
The European aviation industry has suffered unprecedented bottlenecks and check-in chaos at airports from Heathrow to Brussels to Dusseldorf.
The disruptions have been brought on by a blend of labour disputes, staffing shortages and cost cuts during the pandemic that are now coming back to haunt airlines, just as travel roars back for the busy summer period.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG Chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley separately sought to calm staff anger over wages and working conditions, acknowledging reports of their “despair and tears, of helplessness while remaining loyal to Lufthansa.” The supervisory board held a meeting to discuss ways out of the chaos, with worker representatives lamenting beforehand that cost cuts by management had contributed to the current chaos.
“I have not seen such an collection of problems in my career,” Kley said in the message published on the Lufthansa intranet, reviewed by Bloomberg.

Deep Cuts
UK leisure carrier Jet2 Plc meanwhile blamed airports for disruption to its operations, with Executive Chairman Philip Meeson slamming most of the 10 British bases from which it operates as “woefully ill‐prepared and poorly resourced” for the rebound in customers, calling the failure “inexcusable.”
British Airways has been among the carriers hardest hit by a staffing shortfall that’s being felt across Europe, after dismissing 10,000 workers at the peak of the Covid pandemic.
The airline said it would cancel another 10,300 flights through the summer season, taking the total cancellations from April to close to 30,000 flights.
The headcount crunch has also stoked pay demands at the unit of IAG SA, with workers pressing for the restoration of a 10% wage cut implemented during the pandemic.
A BA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The airline is hiring Dutch rival KLM’s chief operating officer with a focus on improving operational resilience and lifting headcount to ease the staff shortfall.
Rival carriers are suffering similar turmoil, with KLM slashing flights amid passenger caps at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and EasyJet Plc affected by curbs at both the Dutch hub and its main London Gatwick base.
Further complicating the outlook for the European travel industry is what happens in the autumn, especially as inflation surges and the cost of living rises.
Jet2 said “inflationary pressures coupled with the uncertain UK economic outlook for consumers, lead us to conclude that prices are likely to come under some pressure.”
IAG shares traded little changed in London, and are down 26% this year. Jet2 was priced 7.2% lower and Lufthansa was up 1%.