British Airways slaps 'at risk' sticker on nearly half its app delivery dept

Almost half the application delivery techies at British Airways (BA) might be pushed out of the company in December under redundancy plans outlined to staff.

The airline is in cost-cutting mode, and the GMB union warned in February that BA was considering outsourcing and offshoring IT to Indian titan Tata Consultancy Services.

Sources at BA told us that some 200 people out of 424 in app delivery may well “lose their jobs” in the final month of the year, “subject to a 45-day consultation period”.

One techie claimed putting staff at risk of redundancy was part of BA’s "transformation bullshit," in which it wants to save 32 per cent of IT operating expenses.

BA parent IAG reported profits of €1.76bn for the first nine months of 2015, versus €1.048bn in the prior year period.

Back in February, the GMB railed against BA’s decision to appoint Tata and claimed the livelihoods of the 900 incumbent tech people at the company were at risk.

The “staged outsourcing” was to impact IT workers across the UK, including those at other locations in Manchester and Cardiff.

GMB told us BA also intended to apply for temporary Tier Two visas for TCS staff who were flying across to deliver work in Heathrow airport terminals.

A BA spokesman sent us a statement regarding the app delivery process: “We are consulting with our people and trades union about restructuring proposals in our IT department.

“While consultation continues we are not able to discuss further details,” he added. ®