British Airways begs pilots to step in and become flight attendants for post-Covid travel rush
BRITISH Airways is asking pilots to become flight attendants in a big push to get ready for the post-Covid travel rush.
The airline has invited captains to undergo six weeks of training — including learning how to serve drinks and point out emergency exits.
BA offered the temporary roles amid a frenzy to hire 4,000 cabin crew ahead of its summer season.
Pilots would still get their annual salary of more than £100,000, but would need to fly once every 90 days to keep their licence.
The scheme has been rolled out to all BA CityFlyer staff at London City Airport and office workers at BA headquarters.
It comes after BA was slammed as “a disgrace” by MPs in 2020 for laying off 10,000 staff.
A source said: “This has not gone down well with pilots. They think it’s a complete joke.
“Thousands of jobs were cut and now they’re worried about staff numbers. It’s no surprise to anybody — but this isn’t the way to win back loyalty.”
Most read in News Travel
BA recently tried to buy back trust after giving pilots a five per cent pay rise and other staff a one-off five per cent bonus.
It began its cabin crew recruitment last November in a “Discovery” drive. BA CityFlyer staff were also offered a £300 bonus if they convinced family or friends to sign up.
Demand for foreign travel, including summer holidays, is expected to soar with airlines including Jet2 increasing the number of flights to hot destinations.
British Airways said: “We are proud to have launched our learning programme, Discovery, offering colleagues in head office functions the opportunity to try an operational role on a temporary basis.
"Discovery will bring together our customer support schemes into one.”
