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(Adds detail, easyJet response)
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - EasyJet's new chief
operating officer, Peter Bellew, will face a vote of confidence
from pilots this week, the British Airline Pilots Association
(BALPA) said on Monday.
BALPA, a union representing more than 90% of easyJet's
pilots, said it would carry out a secret ballot closing at
midday (1100 GMT) on Friday, after the airline sent notification
of a potential 727 pilot redundancies.
The association criticised Bellew for misjudging the
COVID-19 pandemic, trying to bypass unions and proposing pilot
redundancies at a scale for which there was "no justification."
"This is an unusual if not unique step for BALPA to take as
we prefer to do our business around the negotiating table but
pilot morale in easyJet has collapsed and we've been inundated
with calls for a vote of no confidence in Mr Bellew," BALPA
General Secretary Brian Strutton said.
Bellew joined easyJet in January, after a failed court bid
by former employer Ryanair to delay the move.
BALPA also said that Bellew had gone against the best
practice of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) by
reorganising reporting lines on safety to report to him rather
than Chief Executive Johan Lundgren.
EasyJet rebuffed the criticism.
"We call on BALPA to focus on working constructively with us
rather than on personal attacks which are not in the best
interests of our employees," the budget carrier said.
"Peter has a wealth of industry experience, having been COO
for Ryanair and CEO for Malaysian ,and sits on the EASA Safety
Advisory Board. Safety remains easyJet's highest priority."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Andrew Heavens and
Pravin Char)
