HC Deb 04 December 1946 vol 431 cc307-8
1. Mr. Douglas Marshall

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation how many employees have resigned from B.O.A.C. and B.S.A.A. in the last three months.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Mr. Lindgren)

Six hundred and fifty-two employees resigned from British Overseas Airways Corporation during the period in question; of these, 190 and 363 were clerical and manual workers, respectively. The corresponding figures for British South American Airways Corporation were 32, four and five.

Mr. Marshall

Can the hon. Gentleman account for this rather large number of resignations?

Mr. Lindgren

When one takes into account the vast change-over in personnel in most large organisations, one finds that much of this is due to the reaction from war conditions, the resignation of women who have since married and resigned, the releases from the Essential Work Order, and a number of factors of that kind.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

How many women who have married are in fact represented in these figures?

Mr. Lindgren

Of the 652 in B.O.A.C.—I have not separate figures for the B.S.A.A.—250 were women.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Does that mean that more than 400 people have resigned for quite different reasons? Is there any precedent in civil aviation for such widespread resignations at a moment of increasing development?

Mr. Lindgren

No, Sir, because there is no similar organisation. A number of these appointments were of men who had retired, and who came into civil aviation during the war. A number of men have gone back to their previous employment. It is entirely due to the change-over from war to peace conditions.

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