British Airways' head office confirmed it indeed axed its entire Hong Kong crew on Wednesday, September 26, before the airline closes its base in the country in October. Unionists believe the sudden move is to prevent them to stage protests and to save cost from more experienced employees.
Unionists revealed 57 of British Airways' 85 Hong Kong-based flight attendants were suddenly laid off. The other 24 crew would discontinue working in the airline when their contracts expired in October.
Unionists saw British Airways' move as "inhumane and ugly," per The Star. The BA Hong Kong International Cabin Crew Association, which represents 54 employees of the airline, said it would call the union leaders in Britain to "work out a response."
The association strongly believes British Airways is only trying to save cost as experienced employees have greater salaries and benefits. On the other hand, Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam Man-ho, who is also an airline pilot, said the airlines should have informed its employees of the suspension earlier to give them a chance to look for a new job.
Tam also added British Airways should have also asked its employees if they would like to work on its other bases than to suspend them all quickly. The airlines' move could also affect the Hongkongers' experience as there would be fewer flight attendants that could speak Cantonese.
Also, association general secretary Carol Ng Man-yee revealed they only knew that a meeting would be held on Wednesday a day before it would take place. During the meeting, British Airways' employees received a letter that said their employment got terminated effective immediately.
"There had been rumors about closing the Hong Kong base in recent years," she said. "We had expected doomsday to come one day, but we had not expected BA to handle it in such an ugly manner." Ng added British Airways could not stop them to stage protests even if it fired them instantly.
According to the South China Morning Post, British Airways' spokeswoman insisted Hong Kong employees knew about the closure. She also explained the airline thoroughly review its global operation before it decided to lay off its Hongkongers crew.
"While we are really grateful to our crew in Hong Kong for all of their hard work and dedication over the years, our strategic model going forward is to operate this route entirely with the London-based crew," British Airways' spokeswoman said. The airline would close its Hong Kong base at the end of October.
