British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (BASSA) is a branch of the British trade union Unite. It was originally formed exclusively for British Airways (BA) cabin crew, but other small branches exist representing air stewards and stewardesses at other airlines. BASSA Is headquartered at the Unite offices in Harlington, London, and also has a support office at Heathrow Airport. It provides year-round support, a secure website service for its members and an emergency number for operational issues. Originally part of the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU), BASSA is now part of Unite.
British Airways two regional British airlines Cambrian Airways based at Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines based at Newcastle upon Tyne, was constituted on 1 April 1972. Although each airline's individual branding was maintained initially, two years later the British Airways Board unified its branding, effectively establishing British Airways as an airline on 31 March 1974. Following two years of fierce competition with British Caledonian, the second-largest airline in the United Kingdom at the time, the Government changed its aviation policy in 1976 so that the two carriers would no longer compete on long-haul routes. British Airways and Air France operated the supersonic airliner