BAA, the UK airports operator, has announced its decision to cut down workforce by 700, even as the news came that it had posted 9.6 per cent rise in half year operating profits ending September 30 to £412 million up from £376 million in the previous half. The management has justified this decision saying that it would save the company around £45m a year by 2008.
Group revenues showed an increase of 6.4 per cent to £1.2 billion, which was a result of its higher landing fees and net retail income growth of 3.8 per cent in the duty free business operated by it at 64 stores across airports in the UK.
BAA, which operates airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Stansted, said it transported 82.3 million passengers during the six month period, which was an increase of 2.5% over last year. It gained mainly from the long-haul traffic, which it had boosted in its new routes, including North Atlantic and to Asia from Edinburgh, Gatwick, and Naples.
On the flip side, despite the increase in total number of travellers increasing, its passenger traffic at its three London airports fell. BAA attributed it to "a difficult summer and a weaker UK economy".
The move has raised the hackles of the union representatives. They were livid, but BAA in its defense said that a leaner organisation, in addition to providing better services to passengers and airlines, would also save the group £45m a year. More retrenchments are on the anvil, but it would affect the managerial, administration and back-office staff at BAA's seven UK airports by around 20 per cent in the next three years.
The company also had to go through testing times because of the Gate Gourmet dispute and uninspiring London operations which had affected its revenues. For instance, the numbers at Heathrow remained stagnant after the 26/7 attacks in London.
"The staff changes should allow us to deliver a better experience for passengers, more reliable service for customers and better value for money," said Chief executive Mike Clasper.
However, Brendan Gold, the T&G national secretary for civil air transport said: "It does give us cause for concern that BAA has by-passed normal consultation and told 700 staff they have an uncertain future". He felt it was the duty of BAA to acknowledge the contributions made by the staff that resulted in the group incurring profits.
Posted
on : Wed, 02 Nov 2005 12:20 GMT | General News
By : Mark Richardson
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