A British Airways air stewardess is set to receive compensation from winning a discrimination claim after being fired for being "too anxious" to fly.

Before the pandemic, Jennifer Clifford had worked for Britain's flag carrier for almost 40 years, an employment tribunal heard.

However, she was declared unfit to fly after she developed symptoms of stress and depression during a period of furlough and sick leave.

Clifford was temporarily moved to a ground role - but was sacked at the end of 2022 when she was still unfit to fly.

Suing BA, she claimed her manager had "minimised" the severity of her illness by describing it as "just a little bit of anxiety".

The tribunal found she should have been given more credit by the airline for her long service, and been considered for a different role which did not involve flying.

As a result, she is now entitled to compensation.

The air stewardess had worked at BA for almost 40 years

The hearing, which took place in Reading, heard that Clifford began working as a member of cabin crew for BA in 1983.

By the time of the Covid pandemic, she had risen to inflight manager but was then placed on furlough leave in April.

During this period, she was told she would be made redundant in August 2020.

However, this was later rescinded and she was instead offered a role as cabin crew, two ranks below her previous role.

Clifford had previously worked at Heathrow, but wanted to move to Gatwick to reduce her commute

At the time, she launched a grievance about this.

Clifford then remained on furlough until September 2021, but then started a period of sick leave due to work-related stress and depression.

The tribunal heard this was her first period of sick leave in her almost 40 years of service at BA.

Clifford, who normally worked from Heathrow, later proposed a phased return to Gatwick Airport in order to reduce her commuting time.

She also requested to work on the ground two days a week.

However, Clifford was told in September 2022 that she would lose her job is she did not make herself fit to fly.

A position in the "Heathrow Help Hub", which helps flyers and disabled passengers, was later offered to her.

The court was told that during this time, her manager Nigel Landy described her as having "just a little bit of anxiety" and said: "If you don't like working here, then leave."

Clifford, a BA flight attendant (file photo), is now set to receive compensation

Due to her inability to fly, a termination date was set for March 2023, however she decided to leave in December 2022.

Clifford's claims of disability discrimination, failure to make reasonable adjustments and unfair dismissal were upheld, but her claim of sex discrimination was dismissed.

Employment Judge Emma Hawksworth said: "Ms Clifford needed a phased return in a ground duties placement before returning to her full contractual flying role.

"That was because of the need to rebuild her confidence and to give time to adjust to working again, and these requirements arose from her disability."

She added: "My Landy telling [Ms Clifford] she had 'just a little bit of anxiety' was clumsy and suggested to [Clifford] that he was minimising her condition.

"It came across as an attempt to dismiss how she was feeling."

Hawksworth continued: "She has had a lengthy period of absence from work, in part because of things for which she was not responsible: a long period of furlough and a long period when the respondent was considering her grievance.

"A reasonable employer would have given her a longer and more suitable phased return and would, in line with its policy, have considered redeployment to a ground based role before deciding to dismiss her."