British Airways is setting up its maiden overseas base for short-haul flights to combat staff shortages that have sparked the worst wave of cancellations in a decade.
The UK flag carrier is to open a cabin crew base in Madrid as bosses scramble to avoid the recent travel chaos lasting throughout the summer.
Tens of thousands of travellers have had flights cancelled over the Easter holidays as BA and other airlines have grappled with severe staff shortages.
Airlines and airports blamed a “perfect storm” of Covid-related absences and delays to the Government’s security vetting processes for new staff. The chaos marked a major blow to an aviation industry as it ramped up for its first significant holiday season for two years after being ravaged by the pandemic.
BA has cancelled 1,400 flights since the start of April, according to flight data provider Cirium. Experts say that the disruption at UK airports is already the worst for 10 years.
There are now fears that the travel chaos will last throughout the crucial summer season – despite Government plans to streamline the vetting process and free a bottleneck of airline and airport staff waiting for security clearance.
BA has already resorted to offering a £1,000 “welcome bonus” to poach security-cleared cabin crew from rival airlines.
Setting up a base in Madrid underlines BA’s staffing plight and marks a significant escalation as the airline fights to avoid a summer of misery for its customers. Cabin crew will be hired locally.
The move could put them on a collision course with trade unions as Spain’s minimum wage of €7.55 (£6.35) an-hour is well below the £9.50 payable to workers in Britain.
BA has had small outposts in long-haul destinations such as Hong Kong for years so that flights can be part-staffed by locally-speaking cabin crew.
But industry sources said it has never set up bases outside of the UK for short-haul flights. The Madrid base is understood to be solely a short-term measure over summer as the company ramps up its operations.
The airline’s short-haul cabin crew has been based in London for more than a decade. Regional bases in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester were closed years ago, sources added.
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 chief executive Sean Doyle has sought to reinvigorate the UK flag carrier after years of cost-cutting under predecessor Alex Cruz.
Mr Doyle has attempted to draw a line under a turbulent few years that have been blighted by plunging customer service ratings, repeated IT failures and industrial unrest over so-called “fire and rehire” tactics.
The Irish executive brought back on-board complimentary food and drinks and issued a mea culpa to customers in January. “I’m not seeking to make excuses for things that should have gone better,” he said. “What I am doing is making a personal commitment to you that we will build a better British Airways.”
But the Easter chaos, part of it outside BA’s control, now threatens months more turbulence for the carrier.
It remains to be seen what impact BA’s plight will have on the finances of parent company IAG. Luis Gallego, IAG chief executive, said in February that the FTSE 100 is expecting to post a “significant profit” in 2022 after racking up big losses during the pandemic.
