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LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - British Airways, which axed
thousands of staff during the pandemic, said it will start
hiring new cabin crew for next summer, preparing for growth in
travel demand in 2022.
The airline, owned by parent group IAG, made about
10,000 staff redundant in 2020 when COVID-19 grounded planes for
months.
Some cabin crew who lost their jobs opted to be considered
for future BA jobs, and BA said it had already contacted those
ex-staff. New recruits were also being considered.
"After 18 long months of closed or restricted borders across
the world, we are finally seeing a demand for travel return as
countries start to open up and ease their restrictions," BA
chief executive Sean Doyle said in a statement on Thursday.
Unite, the union which represents BA cabin crew, told the
Financial Times this month that the airline was looking to
rehire about 3,000 staff. British Airways declined to comment on
how many new hires it needed.
Travel from Britain has been slower to recover than most
other parts of Europe as the government has kept COVID-19 rules
for longer. Eurocontrol data showed that in the two weeks to
Oct. 11, the number of flights in and out of the UK was down 41%
from the same period in 2019.
BA said applications were open and it would start training
courses for staff in January.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Nick Macfie)
