Proactive Investors - British Airways (LON:ICAG) is to take on an extra 350 staff at Heathrow Airport to avoid any disruptions to travellers during the busy summer travel period and ahead of an IT upgrade.
The move coincides with a new booking app plus the upgrade with this summer predicted to be the busiest at the London hub since the end of the pandemic.
Sean Doyle, BA’s chief executive, announced the new jobs at industry body IATA’s annual meeting in Dubai as part of more widespread plans to restore confidence in the airline after a series of IT failures and staff shortages following the sacking of thousands of staff as planes were grounded during Covid.
Extra staff are being taken on to cover any potential problems with the IT upgrade, he said, which is expected to be fully operational after the summer rush.
Previous summer breaks have seen big queues at BA's Heathrow home as passengers try to get through security and though no such problems are expected this year Heathrow is still not a favourite with some.
Professional golfer Ian Poulter today slammed British Airways for leaving his clubs behind at the airport en route to a LIV tournament while Emirates Airlines boss Tim Clark yesterday described the airport as like something out of post-World War Two Britain.
“Heathrow is seriously lagging behind in many of its customer-facing functions.
“It’s an old airport and, all around, new airports are built employing the latest technologies to streamline their processes, whether it be security, check-in, immigration or whatever, and making the whole thing a lot easier.”
British Airways is owned by IAG, whose shares were down 1.5% at 174.2p today.
Heathrow is owned by ay a private equity group led by Spanish group Ferrovial.