Hundreds of Virgin Atlantic cabin crew members are suing the airline for unfair dismissal, alleging the company used Covid-19 redundancies to target older staff.
The employment tribunal in London will begin examining over 200 cases next month.
Former crew members claim that Sir Richard Branson’s airline unjustly made them redundant while retaining less experienced and cheaper new hires.
When the Covid-19 pandemic led to global lockdowns and travel restrictions in March 2020, Virgin Atlantic, like many airlines, grounded most of its fleet.
The airline quickly cut 3,000 jobs, losing over 40 percent of its 10,000-strong workforce.
Virgin established a “holding pool” for laid-off staff to potentially be rehired when flights resumed.
However, according to one claim, disclosure documents show Virgin retained 350 new cabin crew through the holding pool, some with as little as one week of training.
At the same time, experienced onboard managers, who were, on average, 45 years old with 20 years of experience, were made redundant.
One of the onboard managers affected was Susan Mcentegart, 53, who had worked for Virgin for 23 years.
“It was a devastating loss … It felt like my identity was gone, and I was in a dark place with how they went about it”
She is among 51 claimants represented by a Luton-based law firm.
Mcentegart said: “It seemed the world was closing down and losing jobs was inevitable.
“But the way they went about it seemed unfair. But I was flabbergasted that I wasn’t in the holding pool.
“There were people who hadn’t even got their wings – after six weeks of training – in the pool, and there seemed to be too many of us of an age that were left out.”
Mcentegart added: “It was a devastating loss … It felt like my identity was gone, and I was in a dark place with how they went about it.
“I’d felt it was an honour to work for Virgin, and I couldn’t believe they’d done what they’d done.”
Another 150 former staff members are pursuing claims through the Cabin Crew Union, and 11 are represented elsewhere.
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A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Following the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry, Virgin Atlantic had to make very difficult decisions.
“Sadly, this included reducing the number of people employed across the business by 45%.
“Our people are incredibly important to us, from those who have been with us since 1984, to our newest recruits.
“Throughout the redundancy process, we were committed to ensuring all our people were treated fairly and compassionately.
“To allow as many of our people to return as soon as demand allowed, we introduced a holding pool, which meant that more than 1,000 of our cabin crew returned at their previous level of seniority.
“Where people had to unfortunately leave us, it was for unbiased, objective and lawful reasons, after full consultation with our recognised unions, elected colleague representatives and clear and open continued communication.”
