Coronavirus: British Airways looking at up to 12,000 job losses

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - Up to 12,000 jobs are at risk at British Airways as it faces up to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, company owner IAG warned on Tuesday.

IAG also reported big first quarter losses before exceptional items of $580 million compared with a profit of $146 million a year ago.

BA has been largely grounded by measures to tackle coronavirus in the UK and the airline is operating a handful of flights instead of hundreds.

“British Airways is formally notifying its trade unions about a proposed restructuring and redundancy programme.

“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,” a statement said.

Passenger demand would take "several years" to return to 2019 levels, IAG said.

IAG, which also owns Iberia and Vueling, saw its shares lose 2.2 percent as preliminary results showed first quarter revenue had fallen by 13 percent.

The company said it had reduced passenger capacity for April and May by 94 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

In a letter to employees on Tuesday, BA warned that redundancies were possible but it did not mention any figures.

The letter said: “We are working closely with partners and suppliers to discuss repayment terms; we are re-negotiating contracts where possible; and we are considering all the options for our current and future aircraft fleet.

“All of these actions alone are not enough.”

It added: “We have informed the government and the trade unions of our proposals to consult over a number of changes, including possible reductions in headcount.

“We will begin a period of consultation, during which we will work with the Trade Unions to protect as many jobs as possible.”

Alex Cruz, Chairman and CEO at British Airways, wrote his letter to BA staff a few hours before IAG released details of the losses.

Mr Cruz’ letter added: “The scale of this challenge requires substantial change so we are in a competitive and resilient position, not just to address the immediate Covid-19 pandemic, but also to withstand any longer-term reductions in customer demand, economic shocks or other events that could affect us.”