British Airways is already in talks with unions, with its CEO telling staff ‘do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company’
London — British Airways warned on Friday that its survival was at stake as its CEO told staff of plans to cut jobs and ground aircraft to tackle the “worsening situation” caused by the coronavirus.
“Please do not underestimate the seriousness of this for our company,” read the message from Cruz, a transcript of which was seen by Reuters. The industry is braced for further failures as no carrier is exempt from the short-term pain that has already seen British regional player Flybe collapse and Norwegian’s stock lose about 80% of its value in a month.
As a result, jobs would be lost “perhaps for a short period, perhaps longer term” and the company is in discussions with trade unions, Cruz added. Aircraft would be grounded in a way that the airline has never had to do before, he said.A spokesperson for BA, which is based at Heathrow in London, declined to comment when asked how many jobs could go. The airline employs 45,000 people.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
WHO labels coronavirus a pandemicThe World Health Organization has described the coronavirus outbreak as pandemic.
Read more »
EXPLAINED | Coronavirus: Pandemic declaration, what it means and why you should care“The challenge for many countries who are now dealing with large Covid-19 clusters or community transmission is not whether they can do the same, it’s whether they will.”
Read more »
Coronavirus: KZN deploys water tankers for those without running waterProvincial Cogta MEC Sipho Hlomuka said the department was teaching rural communities about the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more »
Dow enters bear market as WHO calls coronavirus outbreak a pandemicAll three major US stock averages end the session sharply lower, while oil resumes its slide
Read more »
M-Net re-assessing 'Survivor SA' timelines and location amidst coronavirus pandemic
Read more »
WHO declares coronavirus outbreak a pandemicThe World Health Organisation (WHO) has characterised the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
Read more »