British Airways has set out plans to make up to 12,000 of its staff redundant because of the global collapse in air travel in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline’s chief executive, Alex Cruz, told BA’s 42,000 staff on Tuesday night that the company “must act decisively now to ensure that British Airways has a strong future” and that means more than one in four jobs must be cut.
Cruz said the UK’s flag carrier airline, which has placed 22,600 people on the government’s furlough scheme, “cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely”.
“Yesterday, British Airways flew just a handful of aircraft out of Heathrow. On a normal day we would fly more than 300. What we are facing as an airline, like so many other businesses up and down the country, is that there is no ‘normal’ any longer,” Cruz said in a letter to staff .
“We are a strong, well-managed business that has faced into, and overcome, many crises in our hundred-year history. We must overcome this crisis ourselves, too.”
Cruz said the airline and its parent company International Airlines Group, had informed the government and its trade unions about its plans to cut jobs, and would begin a consultation period with staff and unions immediately.
“This has been a difficult message to write and one I never thought I would need to send,” Cruz said.
“I know how tight-knit the BA family is, and how concerned you will be, not just for yourself but for your colleagues, too. We must act decisively now to ensure that British Airways has a strong future and continues connecting Britain with the world.”
IAG said it had plunged to a loss of €535m (£465m) in the first three months of this year – with all the damage being done in March. In the same period last year the airline group made a profit of €135m. IAG also revealed it had made a one-off loss of €1.3bn – the result of taking out contracts to hedge against the possibility of rising oil prices. In fact the oil price has crashed.
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IAG said BA had been hit hardest, with other airlines in the group – Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling – feeling less impact.
Unions responded with anger. Brian Strutton, the general secretary of the pilots’ union Balpa, said staff were devastated by the “bolt out of the blue” news and that the union would fight for every job.
“BA pilots and all staff are devastated by the announcement of up to 12,000 possible job losses in British Airways,” he said.
BA, he added, had “said it was wealthy enough to weather the Covid storm and declined any government support.”
The leader of the Unite union described BA’s decision as heartless, and a “stab in the back”, saying it was “entirely at odds with the course of action followed by our European competitors as they seek a way through the coronavirus crisis”.
Len McCluskey said: “To reject government support but then expect their own staff to pay the cost of such a misjudgement, is irresponsible, dangerous and destructive and is utterly at odds with the mood of the country at a time of crisis.”
Nadine Houghton, national officer of GMB, the union for British Airways ground staff, said: “If the 12,000 figure is accurate this will be a huge blow for our loyal members.
“We believed we had reached some relative, albeit temporary, respite for them following the agreement to furlough 80% of BA’s staff – now this.
“I know our reps will work day and night to limit the impact on our members but 12,000 employees is a staggering number. All our efforts will be out into bringing that number down.”
The airline industry is facing its biggest ever challenge with the vast majority of flights grounded around the world. It is unclear when governments will allow airlines to resume a regular schedule.
When planes do take to the skies again social distancing measures – which are likely to limit the density of passengers onboard – will make it hard for airlines to make the same profits as before.
The global airlines trade association, Iata, has predicted that airlines could lose more than $300bn (£240bn) in the fallout from the pandemic and warned that 25m jobs are at risk.
“This is an emergency. Airlines around the world are struggling to survive,” Alexandre de Juniac, Iata’s director general, said last week.
“Governments will need financially viable airlines to lead the economic recovery. Many of them won’t be around to do that if they have run out of cash.
“We could see more than half of passenger revenues disappear. That would be a $314bn hit. And without urgent relief, many airlines will not survive to lead the economic recovery.”
Several airlines around the world are on the brink of collapse and many are urgently trying to secure government bailouts or emergency bank loans.
Germany’s Lufthansa is reportedly considering filing for creditor protection, as negotiations over state bailouts collapsed on Tuesday night. The airline is said to be burning through €1m of cash every hour, and has warned it will have 10,000 too many staff when it emerges from the crisis as a much smaller operator.
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