Pilots cast "doubt of no confidence" in Peter Bellew

LONDON - Easyjet flags 727 UK pilot redundancies and will be closing its bases at Newcastle, Southend and Stansted. In response, pilots have demanded a "vote of no confidence" in the airline`s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Bellew, who joined Easyjet from Ryanair in January 2020.

Pilot union Balpa, which represents over 90 percent of Easyjet pilots, announced to carry out a secret ballot this week at noon on Friday on the action.

"This is an unusual if not unique step for Balpa to take as we prefer to do our business around the negotiating table but pilot morale in Easyjet has collapsed and we’ve been inundated with calls for a vote of no confidence in Mr Bellew", said Balpa secretary general Brian Strutton.

Easyjet just raised about 419 million pounds through a share placing to help bolster its finances after the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the airline business. The new equity will help boost its liquidity to about 3 billion pounds, the management said.

"I think Easyjet is in a serious industrial relations mess and needs to start winning the hearts and minds of its pilots and other staff before it's too late", Strutton added.