CM3 On British Airways And BMI Deal Puts 1,200 Jobs At Risk

April 17, 2012 - PRLog -- The deal will give IAG control of more than half the landing slots at Heathrow. A managing Director at CM3 commented “This will be a huge loss to some of the workers of BMI as this will cost them their jobs and may take them time to find new work.” British Airways owner IAG has said its deal to buy the BMI airline from Lufthansa for £172.5m could result in the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.

The announcement came as BA began consultations with unions on plans to integrate BMI into its operations. IAG, which also owns Spain's Iberia, will gain 56 more slots at Heathrow airport as part of the deal. CM3 Stated “This is a huge success for IAG and would create more flights and would increase their income base.  It also means we will expect to see more flights with IAG and will like to see how they compete with the other airlines.”

The Unite union said it was saddened by the proposed job losses and would seek to mitigate the impact of the cuts. "Unite will be fighting to maintain as many jobs as possible and ensure that where vacancies exist people can be placed into suitable roles within BA," said national officer Oliver Richardson. A director at CM3 commented “ We hope that these proposed job loses either don’t happen or happen to a few of the workers for 1,200 job loses is to high, imagine if this happened to you.” The pilots' union, Balpa, said it would allocate "all the resources at its disposal" to support pilots affected by the takeover.

The sale of BMI to AIG was announced in December and regulatory approval was granted by the European Commission on 30 March. The deal is expected to take effect on 20 April, IAG said. BMI employs more than 3,600 staff, but reported a £153m loss in the year to 2010.Based in Castle Donington in Leicestershire, it operates flights to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It has 8.5% of the landing slots at Heathrow, the UK's busiest airport. A source at CM3 stated “We hope that IAG can turn some of these money loses e.g. £135m and turn them around so that they are not making a loss and making a profit.”

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