LONDON: British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend 36,000 staff as the carrier battles the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline, which grounded much of its fleet due to the coronavirus crisis, has been negotiating with the Unite union for more than a week.
The two sides have reached a broad deal but are yet to sign on some details.
The agreement means that up to 80% of BA cabin crew, ground staff, engineers and those working at head office will have their jobs suspended but no staff are expected to be made redundant.
The decision will affect all staff at Gatwick and London City Airport after the airline suspended its operations at both locations until the crisis is over.
Those affected are expected to receive some of their wages through the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme, which covers 80% of someone’s salary capped at a maximum of £2,500 a month.
Owner-International Airlines Group earlier said capacity would be cut by 75 per cent this month and next, with hundreds of planes grounded.
Earlier this week, British Airways extended its revolving credit facility in the United States as the airline seeks to ensure it has sufficient liquidity to ger through the Covid-19 crisis.
No one who works at British Airways will be surprised at today’s expected announcement. When the planes are sitting on the ground – and nearly all of BA’s fleet is doing just that, dispersed to regional airports around the country – there is no need for the army of workers who fly the aircraft, maintain them, load and unload the bags, and serve the passengers.
BA has not, so far, asked the government for any other specific financial assistance. Nor has EasyJet, where senior sources say the general assistance programmes, wage assistance and loan guarantees should be sufficient.
Virgin Atlantic, however, continues to press, and has written to MPs pointing out that it provides the only British-flagged competition to British Airways on many key routes from Heathrow.
So far the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has taken a hard line, saying airlines should exhaust all financial revenues before turning to the taxpayer. If Virgin does make a formal application for more aid, it will have to be able to show it has met the chancellor’s test.
BA’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), is in a better financial position than some of its competitors. The group has made healthy profits in recent years.
