Salmond in summit amid fears BA will quit Scotland

Published on Monday 6 October 2008 21:44

ALEX Salmond, the First Minister, is to meet the head of British Airways today amid concerns that the airline is to pull out of Scotland.

The meeting with Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA, comes after the company confirmed it is reviewing its cabin crew base at Glasgow Airport.

The base supports flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Heathrow and Gatwick and employs 135 people, who would face losing their jobs.

If BA decides to axe the flights, then the company would be left with just its City Flier service from Edinburgh to the City of London Airport, and no official BA routes from Scotland.

It was revealed in August that nearly 500 of some 5,000 flights on routes between Scotland and Heathrow and Gatwick will go between October and March, as part of a 3 per cent cut across BA's global network.

The cuts were announced as BA reported an 88 per cent reduction in quarterly pre-tax profits from 298 million to 37 million.

The airline, which brands itself "the world's favourite", has been hit by rising fuel costs and competition from budget operators. BA routes between Scotland and London have made a huge loss.

And this month, BA is set to be replaced by Flybe in a tie-up with Loganair for 23 services in the Highlands and Islands.

Flybe last year also bought all of BA's 15 non-London services from Scotland.

A spokesman for BA confirmed that the cabin crew base was being reviewed.

He said: "Any decision on its future will be communicated in the first instance to staff." Mr Salmond's office said that the meeting had been arranged for some time, but added that the First Minister was aware of the concerns of BA staff and that he would be raising them.

The spokesman added: "The meeting is essentially a courtesy call and was requested by Mr Walsh. He happened to be at an event in Scotland and wanted to take the opportunity to meet the First Minister."

Mr Walsh also plans to meet MSPs and business leaders to talk about BA's Scottish future.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce has led the voicing of concerns about the future of BA and other route providers from Scotland.

A review is also being carried out by BMI, currently compiling its winter timetable.