A friend of mine, who is CC for BA, spoke to me about this. Apparently they are going to be trained to be 'cruising pilots'. That is, they will be employed to fly the plane when it is not taking off or landing. The cruising pilots will replace the co-pilot and first officer and therefore save BA loads of money. There will still be a proper captain who will take off and land the plane.
This is categorically untrue. BA only employs fully trained and qualified pilots. The CAA mandates that both pilots behind the controls are fully qualified.