BA Engineering keeps workers under its wing

Supply Management, Nov 19, 1998

Although staff will work for a new logistics provider, BAX Global, they'll remain on BA contracts

A landmark deal between British Airways Engineering, trade unions and logistics provider BAX Global will see what BA Engineering supply chain general manager David Richardson calls a "middle way" solution between in-house operations and outsourcing.

Original plans to outsource logistics as part of a supply chain overhaul at the organisation, which maintains and repairs British Airways' 300-strong fleet of aircraft, were changed after talks with staff and unions.

"One of the strengths of BA is the real feeling that people have for the company, the close and fierce loyalty that they have to it and that's a very positive thing for us," said Richardson. "It can, of course, make situations where outsourcing is on the table very difficult because, in addition to the actual change in the way they do things, suddenly they are not working for BA any more and that's desperately difficult for a lot of our people.

"A middle way enables us to make the changes that make other people's proposals attractive, but to do them internally. There is nothing special about outsourcing, and one has to separate the issues of who you are employed by and the working practices you follow. You can, within a BA framework, do things differently - you don't have to go the whole way down the line and say that to change working practices, you have all got to go and work for somebody else."

Current logistics management staff within BA Engineering will be redeployed elsewhere in the business, while the rest of the 300 staff will remain under BA contracts but work for BAX Global. The two companies will work together with staff and unions to agree new working practices to improve efficiencies. And new communications and training programmes are being developed.

BA Engineering is moving from three main warehouses and several frontline stores to just two new warehouses for its current 500,000 inventory lines. A fast-delivery store, for critical items required by customers within 20 minutes door-to-door, will be at or close to Heathrow Airport. The second store for slower-moving, less-critical items is expected to be about five miles south of the airport. The fast-delivery store will be purpose built, but should be operational by the end of 1999. The off-base store will be an existing, but not BA, facility and will be operational from early in the next financial year. SW