Case Study on British Airways: Problems and Strategic Solutions

This case study discusses the problems faced by British Airways due to the COVID-19 pandemic and provides strategic solutions to overcome them. It covers issues such as job cuts, communication challenges, and financial constraints. The report also highlights the importance of effective communication and teamwork in resolving the crisis.

British Airways –Case
Study

Table of Contents
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Overview of case....................................................................................................................3
Problems identified in Case....................................................................................................4
Strategic solutions for Problems.............................................................................................4
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................5
Part 2................................................................................................................................................8
Reflection...............................................................................................................................8
References............................................................................................................................11

Part 1
Introduction
The following report consists of a case study on British Airways where miscommunication
between company and its employees have led to involvement of trade union for employee
welfare (Yong and Chen, 2020). Due to the pandemic of COVID-19 British Airways find it
difficult to pay off their employees and employers are of the view that companies thinking to cut
of jobs of a number of employees. The following report discusses about the problems which are
faced by company and its staff. Discussion on various ways through which various strategic
solutions can be adopted by British Airways in order to overcome this problem and also
mentioned.
Overview of case
The following case discusses about British airways and the threat of strike over their job
cut plan due to pandemic of COVID-19. The head of trade union has already won’t British
Airways that they can take industrial action against the airline if they do not stop the job cut.
British Airways have been a loggerhead for a number of weeks as they have want their
employees they could cut up to 12,000 jobs due to impact of Coronavirus. Also the staff of the
airways was one if they do not reach to any agreement they would have to hang their notice and
also re-hire some of the new contracts. There are a number of airlines who are struggling to
survive in the pandemic and a disrupted at a global level due to the virus (Brewster and et. al.,
2020). The last months revenue have already dropped up to 50% from that compare to year 2019.
However British airlines have planned to make some pay cuts and also make sure that they can
rehire the staff when conditions are normal as quoted by a number of their employees, engineers,
maintenance staff and the cabin crew members. Following case discusses about various problems
which are faced by British Airways due to lock down. The business of company has gone down
seriously and also they are effectively going for cost saving when dealing with pilots and other
employees of the organisation. However the issue have now approached to trade union who is
warning British Airways to take serious action such a strike. There have been breakdown
between British Airways and its workforce due to which trade union is dragged in between to
bring them to an amicable agreement.

Problems identified in Case
Due to the pandemic of COVID-19 British Airways is forced to cut down their employees
which include pilots, maintenance staff, cabin crew and so on. The company first went to trade
union in order to notify them about the step they are going to take. The step included redundancy
of up to 12,000 employees in the organisation. The airline have faced huge losses in second
quarter and these losses are going to be significantly work was according to their market
research. There were a number of such decisions taken by other airline group throughout various
nations such as Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Belgium.
In order to deal with these losses British Airways decided to go around with job cuts in the
organisation. They also thought of adopting the policy of fire and rehire for their pilots including
their cockpit crew (Budd, Ison and Adrienne, 2020). It was a major issue as trade union got in
walled in the matter and authorities of British Airways were warned that organisation can face
negative effects including strike if any such action is taken by company.
One of the major issues that British Airways faced was to pay their employs in case of
such heavy losses. It is difficult for company to make revenues as due to lock down and travel
restrictions there are no customers available hence no profits or avenues for company. However
British Airways made sure that they can guaranty up to 80% of basic salary while limiting the
need for my job cards which was anyway revolted by trade union and employs.
To spend money on sanitisation process and healthy living in order to carry on their flights
successfully during this pandemic was another problem which company faced. It was necessary
for British Airways to make sure that they are successfully training their employs enough to deal
with passengers and travellers during this pandemic. Which also required investment and major
concerns of company included lack of financial resources.
Strategic solutions for Problems
There are a number of strategies that could be adopted by British Airways in order to make
sure that they are overcoming the problems which are faced by them during this pandemic.
Below mentioned are some of such steps:
British airways can look for investors. It will allow time for company to make sure that
they are not cutting pay of their employees. While they are looking for investors it will also help
company to maintain all their Boeing which are not in service now. It is necessary for company

to arrange for funds so that they do not have to cut jobs in the organisation and make sure that
they are taking care of their employees during this difficult situation.
There also companies like Virgin Atlantic who are opting for commercial loans during
this period. British Airways can also drop the strategy and make sure that they are attaining some
commercial loans based on their goodwill and passed profits which will allow them to deal with
this tough situation (STILL and BOOKINGS, 2020). It is necessary for company to make sure
that they are looking for options through which they do not need to cut of jobs or adopt the
policy of fire entry higher.
In order to make sure that there are no misunderstanding between employees and
organisation it is necessary that British Airways human resource department is clearly
communicating all the information to their employees and keeping trade union out of the matter
to avoid any negative publicity of organisation during this pandemic.
British Airways is also required to make sure that they are starting their business and
slowly maintaining all the safety measures to provide the customers with healthy and safe
journey.
It is also required by British Airways to make sure that they are successfully training their staff
to work during this pandemic in order to make sure that protective measures are taken clearly for
employees as well as all the passengers of British Airways.
Conclusion
With the help of above report it can be concluded that the situation arising in British
Airways is of miscommunication. It is necessary for company to make sure that they are
critically analysing the situation and communicating with your staff in order to make sure that no
third party is involved in the business. It is necessary for them to take critical actions as soon as
possible in order to make sure that trade union does not take any negative action such a strike
which may lead to demotivation of employs as well as degrading of company’s market value.
Taking specific actions and making strategies to overcome this problem may help British
Airways to successfully continue their business.

References
Books and Journals
STILL, I.Y.F. and BOOKINGS, N., 2020. Is your British Airways 125 booking ticketed and
affected by COVID-19?. Policy, 7, p.19th.
Budd, L., Ison, S. and Adrienne, N., 2020. European airline response to the COVID-19
pandemic–Contraction, consolidation and future considerations for airline business
and management. Research in Transportation Business & Management, p.100578.
Brewster, D.J. and et. al., 2020. Consensus statement: Safe Airway Society principles of airway
management and tracheal intubation specific to the COVID-19 adult patient
group. Med J Aust, 16.
Yong, P.S.A. and Chen, X., 2020. Reducing droplet spread during airway manipulation: lessons
from the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. British Journal of Anaesthesia.

Part 2
Reflection
While completing this report I worked on a number of skills which will help me to
successfully continue with my professional career. Development of all the skills and a plan to
make sure that I keep enhancing the skills was successfully continued during assessment of this
project. I worked on my communication skills which included both verbal and written
communication. There were a number of report writing done by me along with presentations in
the class which improved my communication skills. I also worked on my listening skills by
making sure that during presentation I am also allowing others to raise doubts and critically solve
them while listening to them carefully.Numeracy skills was another skill which I developed
which included taking evidence from use of various data and statistics (da Silva and et. al.,
2020). This case of British Airways included a number of evidences such as amount of pay cuts
company was going for, the jobs company was taking from their employers, profit level during
the quarter as compared to previous year and so on. All these critically had me to discuss the
case thoroughly and increase my numeracy skills. One of the major skill that I developed during
completion of this case study was problem-solving skills. In order to do so I made sure that I
gather example and information before looking for a solution. It was necessary to critically
assess the information available and also look for all the possible solutions. After listing down all
the solutions it was recommended to make a list of benefits and disadvantages of all this solution
which will help to come to a decision. Another major skill which I worked upon and also
acquired during this project was working with others. It is necessary to develop teamwork which
will effectively help in my professional career in future. It is often seen in corporate world one
needs to work in a team and also make sure that all their strengths and weaknesses are helping
team to reach to their objectives and goals. Along with working in a team I also came to know
about Belbin’s theory which include various rules which are to be played by different team
members in a team.
Belbins team role theory clearly specifies nine roles which are to be paid by different
individuals in a team in order to achieve success. When I was working in a team I found out that
it is necessary that each member in the team has a clear responsibility that is to be carried out by
them. Every role had a goal which was needed to be achieved in order to make team fully

functional. There are various ways in which the theory helps to create a more balanced team and
specify roles and responsibilities of different individuals. These roles include action oriented
roles, people oriented roles and thought oriented roles (Cockburn, 2019). Action oriented roles
include a shaper who is someone who brings in improvement in team. The shipper in our team
was required to make sure that they are stimulating others, questioning all the norms and also
finding various approaches in order to solve the problem in a better way. They are considering
all the possibilities available so that the team does not have to suffer. The second role was of
implemented who is required to make sure that things are done. The implementer in our team
made sure that all the ideas and concepts of team members are practically useless actions in plan.
Implemented was required to make sure that the work is carried on efficiently and also well
organised. The next action oriented role included a complete finisher. The complete finisher in
our team made sure that all the projects and tasks are completed successfully (Dafoula and et. al.,
2019). It was also their duty to make sure that none of the task is omitted and small details are
also paid attention to. However their major role included pushing everyone to finish the task in
given deadline. People oriented roles in our team included a coordinator who was the one who
acted as a traditional team leader and also referred themselves as chairman. They worked as a
listener and naturally recognises them self to be a value to the team. They believed in delegating
the task and coordinating between everyone in the team. The next role was of a team worker who
made sure that he is providing support to everyone in the team while their work and be efficient
and effective. Teamwork are also works as a negotiator in the team and is very perceptive,
diplomatic and flexible. The last people oriented role was of a resource investigator. The
resource investigator of our team was innovative and curious enough who made sure that all the
available options are negotiated well and resources are used efficiently by all of the team. They
were also responsible to look at external stakeholders and help them accomplish all their
objectives. Thought oriented goals included a plant who was innovator in the team.They came up
with new ideas and approaches in order to make sure that innovation can be brought in the team
and their work. Monitor evaluator were people who successfully analysed and evaluated all the
ideas that other people provided. They were responsible in our team to make sure that all the
advantages and disadvantages of basic ideas are looked critically into before taking a decision.
The last rule was of a specialist and it was duty of a specialist to make sure that the work in their

field is done correctly. Specialist is usually the ones who have critical skills and abilities
regarding certain field of expertise.
Use of VARK mode was also done by me in order to successfully complete the following
task. I used visual images, graphics, maps et cetera in order to understand information about
British airways. Other than this a number of auditory tools were also used for understanding
various study techniques and improving my listening skills. In order to create the report I used to
read and write skills which help me to develop writing skills and also translate my abstract
thoughts into useful information. Reading and writing skills are necessary in order to make sure
that the project is completed successfully (Vaci and et. al., 2019). Kinaesthetic skills include the
skills in which learner understands information by the help of various title representation of the
information. In order to make sure that I critically understand the problems faced by British
Airways and looking for ways in which company can make strategies to overcome those
problems needed kinaesthetic skills as well. A number of graphs and data representation were
used to understand profits, past performance and revenues of British Airways. This way I was
provided with a better learning capability and also developed a number of skills which will help
me to succeed in my professional career. It is necessary that an individual keep working on their
professional and personal skills to succeed in their academy can professional career. The skills
development are continuous and one must keep on developing skills and looking for new skill to
make themselves better for this competitive environment.

References
Books and Journals
Vaci, N. and et. al., 2019. The joint influence of intelligence and practice on skill development
throughout the life span. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(37),
pp.18363-18369.
Dafoulas, G. and et. al., 2019, June. Evaluating the use of augmented reality in learning
portfolios for different team roles. In 2019 10th International Conference on
Information and Communication Systems (ICICS) (pp. 173-178). IEEE.
Cockburn, T., 2019. Team Leadership Case Study and Role Play Exercise–Friday 13th,
Appendix# 1: RM Belbin´ s Nine Team Roles.
da Silva, I.N. and et. al., 2020. Use of the VARK Model for Students of an Undergraduate
Course in Systems Analysis and Development. In Theoretical and Practical
Approaches to Innovation in Higher Education (pp. 42-56). IGI Global.