LATAM Airlines Group will cut pay to its 43,000-strong workforce by 50% for 3 months due to economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, a source close to the situation told Reuters Thursday. The pay cuts will affect employees worldwide, but LATAM's operations are concentrated in Chile and Brazil. The company's incoming CE, Roberto Alvo, will also forego his entire salary. Also Thursday, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes said it will cut worker pay by 35%, and executive pay by 40% for 3 months "initially." LATAM has said it will cut 70% of its flights as countries in Latin America have shut down their borders to air travel and demand has plummeted. Gol has slashed its flights by 50%, but it is much more focused on domestic flights which have not seen as much disruption as international flights. <br/>
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British Airways pilots are to be hit with a 50% pay cut to their basic salary for April and May, split over 3 months, as the airline becomes the latest to try to cut costs in the wake of the deepening coronavirus pandemic. The agreement with unions will see BA’s 4,500 pilots required to take 2 weeks of unpaid leave in each of April and May, with a deduction from basic pay spread over 3 months. It comes a day after IAG CE Willie Walsh took a 20% pay cut for the remainder of his contract until the end of June, becoming the latest airline executive to reduce their salary. The agreement with pilots follows a doom-laden memo sent by Alex Cruz, BA’s CE, last week that warned staff that the carrier would have to cut jobs, suspend routes and ground aircraft because of the coronavirus pandemic. <br/>
Due to lack of demand for passenger transportation, American Airlines plans to start flying scheduled cargo-only flights. The first cargo-only flight is to depart from Dallas/Fort Worth International Friday and will land at Frankfurt International the next morning, says the company. The Boeing 777-300 will operate 2 round trips between the airports over the course of 4 days. The trips represent the first scheduled cargo-only fights since 1984 when American retired the last of its Boeing 747 freighters, says the airline. “Challenging times call for creative solutions, and a team of people across the airline has been working nonstop to arrange cargo-only flight options for our customers,” says Rick Elieson, president of cargo and VP of international operations. <br/>