Nine Jersey jobs lost after BA decide to cut free food

Friday 13 January 2017

Nine people have been made redundant after a Jersey inflight catering operation, which supplied British Airways, had to close – a direct result of the airline’s scrapping of free on-board snacks, Express can reveal.

World Duty Free Group's in-flight catering unit officially closed on Wednesday, having lost the majority of its business after British Airways decided to replace free meals and snacks with M&S food on short-haul Euro Traveller flights.

Customers flying between the UK and Channel Islands had previously enjoyed a morning breakfast – a croissant, yoghurt, orange juice, and tea or coffee – or, later in the day, a hot or cold drink, accompanied by a snack - either a packet of crisps or an Island Bakery biscuit. 

But as of January 11th, catering operations were suspended on all flights of five hours or less. Instead, flyers will now have to buy from a range of Marks & Spencer snacks - ranging from £1 packets of crisps to sandwiches costing up to £4.95. Drinks, too, will now be paid for, with alcoholic beverages costing in excess of £4.

Pictured: A typical British Airways breakfast on a Jersey to UK flight before free meals were scrapped.

Back in September, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO Alex Cruz had praised the new partnership for, “…break[ing] the mould and set[ting] a new standard in short-haul catering.”

“Like British Airways, Marks & Spencer is a well-known, premium British brand that is respected and trusted, so it’s an ideal partnership, providing our customers with a choice of products they recognise and value.”

But World Duty Free Group did not welcome the news, which directly resulted in jobs going for seven part-time workers, and two in full-time roles. They told Express that every effort had been made to relocate the employees, but that it was not possible, as the group has no other inflight operations across the rest of the business.

Pictured: World Duty Free Group, known for its chain of airport-based duty free stores, had also handled British Airways' catering unit in Jersey.

A spokesperson expressed their disappointment at the situation: "Whilst we regret having to close the inflight catering operation based in Jersey, it was not viable for us to continue running it, following BA's decision to cease offering free meals/snacks on their short haul flights, as BA represented the majority of the business for this operation."