Dimitris Kouimtsidis
BRITISH Airways is set to cut up to 12,000 jobs due to the coronavirus crisis, it has been reported.
The London based airline is set to cut up to 28.5% of its staff due to a collapse in business that has been caused by the pandemic.
BA has 42,000 employees, of whom 4,500 are pilots and 16,000 cabin crew.
23,000 of these have already been put on furlough.
The airline’s parent company, IAG, said it needed to impose a ‘restructuring and redundancy programme’ until demand for air travel returns to 2019 levels.
IAG also owns the Spanish airline, Iberia.
In a statement, IAG said: “The proposals remain subject to consultation, but it is likely that they will affect most of British Airways’ employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000 of them.”
The company believes it will take several years for air travel to return to previous levels.
BA Chief Executive, Alex Cruz said in a letter to the staff: “In the last few weeks, the outlook for the aviation industry has worsened further and we must take action now.
“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.
“There is no government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely.”
