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ARCHIVED - British Airways opens base in Spain in bid to fight staff shortages
The airline’s short-haul flight hub will be moved to Madrid in Spain following mass cancellations
British Airways has set up a short-haul cabin crew base in the Spanish capital of Madrid and plans to hire more staff locally, as personnel shortages due to Covid and a painfully long recruitment process have led to the cancellation of more than 1,400 flights since the beginning of April.
Over Easter, thousands of travellers in the UK saw their flights cancelled at the last minute and experienced hours-long delays, while similar shortages in Spain left more than 3,000 passengers grounded during Holy Week.
Experts believe this is the worst disruption witnessed by British airports and travellers in a decade, and British Airways has even offered a “welcome bonus” of 1,000 pounds in an attempt to lure qualified staff from other airlines.
“For candidates who are successfully offered a role through this campaign, we’re offering a welcome bonus of £1,000 – paid in two instalments - £500 after your first three months, £500 after six months in role,” the job advertisement reads.
With summer fast approaching, fears are growing that airlines across Europe won’t be able to cope with the post-Covid demand, and BA announced on Friday April 22 that it would be cancelling flights to Miami, Hong King and Tokyo.
The hope is that the Madrid base will alleviate the pressure somewhat, but unions may have something to say on the matter considering that Spanish pay rates are much lower than salaries in the UK.
A spokesman for British Airways said: “We are looking at a range of temporary options to ensure we can support our customers this summer as we ramp our operation back up.”
BA has slipped down the airline rankings since several cuts were made by former CEO Alex Cruz, but new boss, Irishman Sean Doyle, has already implemented a number of welcome changes, such as reinstating complimentary on-board snacks.
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