Tess De Mello, a former British Airways (BA) cabin crew member, is locked in a legal battle after losing her job of 30 years during the pandemic. She was among thousands of staff laid off in 2020 when BA cut jobs amid economic pressures, a move MPs called a “national disgrace”.
Pride and identity in the role
During her three-decade career, De Mello said she took pride in her work, regularly going above and beyond to make passengers comfortable. “I took pride,” she said. “I really took pride in myself, I took pride in my role, I took pride in everything because it was everything I wanted to be.”
In 2020, BA issued redundancy notices to almost all of its 42,000 staff, with 10,000 ultimately losing their jobs. The Unite union told the parliamentary transport select committee that BA had used a fire-and-rehire approach, with remaining staff facing pay cuts and demotions.
Shame and legal challenge
De Mello said the dismissal brought a great amount of shame, fearing colleagues who had looked up to her would judge her. “To have that taken away from you … I’ve been thinking, what would that person think about me now? Would they think I’ve done something wrong?” she said.
BA had told its longest-serving cabin crew to expect a 20% basic pay cut to be retained, with Unite later saying salaries dropped by between 15% and 35%. When De Mello sought clarification of her salary and time to consider, explicitly stating she wanted to stay, she was told she would be treated as if she had decided to leave, according to court documents for her unfair dismissal claim.
Holiday pay claim and wider impact
Judge Laurie Anstis found against her and a former colleague at an employment tribunal in Reading last year. They are appealing the ruling and also claiming they were underpaid holiday entitlement while part-time workers. Their lawyers argue their shift pattern – working blocks of full days followed by days off – classifies them as “part-year” workers, like teachers, entitled to full-time holiday.
They cite a 2022 supreme court ruling that said part-year workers under permanent contracts are not required to have leave prorated to full-time workers. Unite said this shift pattern is standard across the industry, so a win could open the door to similar claims from many other cabin crew workers, with potential for huge financial outlay for airlines.
BA said: “In 2025, an employment tribunal dismissed claims brought by the two claimants relating to the steps British Airways took to avoid the collapse of the business and loss of thousands of jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Finding in our favour and dismissing the claims, that employment tribunal determined that BA’s actions had been non-discriminatory and fair. We believe these latest claims are without merit. We will be making that clear to the tribunal.”
