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.
History of British Airways 2008 British Airways announced that it had agreed to buy French airline L'Avion for . L'Avion was fully integrated with OpenSkies in 2009. On 14 March 2008 Heathrow Terminal 5, built exclusively for the use of British Airways at a cost of , was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Upon opening to passengers on 27 March 2008 serious problems immediately arose, many from staff confusion. The baggage handling system failed completely, resulting in seven flights departing with no baggage loaded. In the first five days, a backlog of 28,000 bags built up and over 300 flights were cancelled. Walsh