During a 30-year career as a member of British Airways’ cabin crew, Tess De Mello took pride in a job well done, saying she regularly went above and beyond to make passengers more comfortable.
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passengers → take → job
“I took pride,” she said.
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she → take → pride
“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.
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I → take → everything
But in 2020 she was let go when BA cut thousands of jobs in the face of economic pressures during the pandemic.
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BA → let → pandemic
The airline issued almost all of its 42,000 staff with redundancy notices, with 10,000 ultimately losing their jobs.
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10,000 → issue → jobs
At the time, the Unite union representing cabin crew told the parliamentary transport select committee BA had taken a fire-and-rehire approach, with staff who remained having to accept pay cuts and demotions.
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who → represent → cuts
MPs called it a “national disgrace”.
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MPs → call → it
De Mello has spent the years since locked in legal battles with BA.
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Mello → spend → BA
There was a great amount of shame attached to her dismissal, she has said, leaving her fearing what those colleagues who had looked up to her would think upon learning she had been among those not kept on by BA.
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she → be → BA
“To have that taken away from you …
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that → have → you
I’ve been thinking, what would that person think about me now?
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person → think → me
Would they think I’ve done something wrong?
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I → think → something
“The shame of being dismissed, for me, it was personal …
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it → dismiss → me
You think people are going to judge you for doing something wrong.”
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people → think → something
She said she was concerned her former colleagues would assume she had not been selected to stay because her performance had been deemed poor.
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performance → say → ?
“I took such pride in my work, in my ability.
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I → take → ability
I was always on top of things,” she said.
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she → say → things
“The shame stems from losing my job.”
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shame → stem → job
BA had told its longest-serving cabin crew they should expect to take a 20% basic pay cut to be retained.
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they → tell → cut
Unite later said salaries dropped by between 15% and 35%.
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salaries → say → 15
When De Mello asked for clarification of her exact salary upon being rehired and some time to consider, making sure to say explicitly she wanted to stay with the airline, she was told she would now be treated as if she had decided to leave, according to court documents for an unfair dismissal claim she later made against BA.
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she → ask → BA
Judge Laurie Anstis found against her and a former colleague at an employment tribunal in Reading last year.
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Anstis → find → Reading
They are appealing the ruling.
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They → appeal → ruling
They are also claiming they were underpaid their holiday entitlement while they were part-time workers for BA.
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they → claim → BA
If successful, the case could have ramifications across the aviation sector.
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case → have → sector
This meant working a block of full days on, followed by a block of days off.
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This → mean → days
Their lawyers argue this classified them as “part-year” workers, similar to teachers, who are entitled to full-time holiday.
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who → argue → holiday
They cite a 2022 supreme court ruling that said: “The amount of leave to which a part-year worker under a permanent contract is entitled is not required by EU law to be, and under domestic law is not, prorated to that of a full-time worker.”
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worker → cite → worker
According to Unite, this type of shift pattern is standard across the industry, meaning that, were De Mello and her former colleague to win, the door would be open to similar claims from many other cabin crew workers – with the potential for huge financial outlay for airlines.
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door → accord → 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.
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Airways → say → pandemic
“Finding in our favour and dismissing the claims, that employment tribunal determined that BA’s actions had been non-discriminatory and fair.
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actions → find → claims
We believe these latest claims are without merit.
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claims → believe → merit
We will be making that clear to the tribunal.”
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that → make → tribunal
The Aporia
