BRITISH Airways chief executive Willie Walsh last night said it remained committed to Scotland – hours after BA announced the closure of its Glasgow cabin crew operation, with the potential for 138 redundancies.
He said Scotland was a vital part of BA and – provided businesses and the public used its flights between Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London – it would continue to operate them.
Mr Walsh, in Edinburgh to meet business bosses and First Minister Alex Salmond, said closure of the Glasgow base would have no impact on flights to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow as they would in future be crewed by Heathrow-based staff.
Mr Walsh said: “Serving Scotland is the DNA of British Airways. It’s an absolutely crucial market for us, and will always remain so.”
Steve Turner, national officer of Britain’s biggest un-ion Unite, vowed to fight to keep the site after questioning if BA could call itself British if it continued centralising in the south-east.
Scottish Chambers of Commerce director Liz Cameron said the closure raised concerns about BA’s long-term commitment to Scotland.
She said she would seek an urgent meeting with BA. “For businesses in the north and north-east of Scotland in particular, there is no practical way of travelling to London other than by air. We need to ensure these services are retained as a major priority for business in Scotland.”
Businesses would only support BA if it offered flights to meet their needs, she said.
The Glasgow closure comes two months after BA said it would be cutting nearly 1,000 flights from its winter schedule between Scotland and London, of which 132 are between Aberdeen and Hea-throw. It has also recently cut flights between Aberdeen and Gatwick and offloaded regional UK and Scots island services to Flybe.
Mr Walsh said Scottish staff facing losing their jobs would be given the chance to transfer to Heathrow and commute from Scotland to London, or offered voluntary severance. He blamed the economic environment for the closure of Glasgow, saying its productivity was less than similar sites at Heathrow and Gatwick but it cost much more to run.
Mr Salmond said: “I think it is very unfair that a decision to axe loyal, hard-working staff in Glasgow has been made while an efficiency drive was under way. This decision had been made just two months into a three-month productivity trial.
“I do recognise the prevailing difficult economic conditions and, in this context, welcome BA’s assurances concerning their other Scottish operations.
“However, BA have reinforced the opinion that they are becoming increasingly centred in London.”
Mr Walsh dismissed the allegation that Scottish flights, and in particular those to Aberdeen, were the first to be dropped if BA had problems in its short-haul network.
He stressed the importance of the links between Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow not just to London, but in also providing access to BA’s global network.
Mr Walsh said there was a case for greater competition between Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. Consumers would benefit from one of them being sold by BAA.
The Competition Commission recently recommended a break-up of the operator’s businesses because of concerns about its market dominance. “This isn’t a criticism of BAA, it’s more a criticism of the situation where one company controls airports that could potentially compete with one another,” he said.