BA boss tells MPs airline is still 'fighting for survival'
British Airways may never be the same again after the coronavirus pandemic, according to the airline’s CE, who told MPs the industry faced permanent structural change from the worst crisis in aviation history. Álex Cruz said: “People are afraid of travelling … and we are having weekly changes to the quarantine list. We are taking every measure possible to make sure we can actually make it through this winter. We don’t see a short-term coming-back of our passengers.” He added: “There is no data to support that this is a temporary effect for the airline situation … Things have changed. The airline industry is fundamentally different.” He defended job losses and pay cuts at the airline, telling the transport select committee that BA was still fighting for survival. It flew only 187,000 passengers last week compared with 1m during the same period in 2019, and was operating only 25-30% of its schedule. Questioned over the controversial treatment of BA staff Cruz said he deeply regretted “that way too many loyal and hardworking colleagues are having to leave the business”. But he criticised the “optimism” in MPs’ questions, which suggested that pilots and crew could have been retained or have pay restored. Cruz said the changes he was proposing were solely a consequence of the pandemic: “The job at hand is huge, it is structural, it is really long term.” Cruz, meanwhile, said BA was close to reaching agreements with trade unions across the airline that would end its “fire and rehire” threat to 30,000 remaining employees. Cruz said the process was ongoing but he forecast total job losses would be in the region of 10,000, rather than the maximum 13,000 the airline had proposed. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-09-17/oneworld/ba-boss-tells-mps-airline-is-still-fighting-for-survival
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BA boss tells MPs airline is still 'fighting for survival'
British Airways may never be the same again after the coronavirus pandemic, according to the airline’s CE, who told MPs the industry faced permanent structural change from the worst crisis in aviation history. Álex Cruz said: “People are afraid of travelling … and we are having weekly changes to the quarantine list. We are taking every measure possible to make sure we can actually make it through this winter. We don’t see a short-term coming-back of our passengers.” He added: “There is no data to support that this is a temporary effect for the airline situation … Things have changed. The airline industry is fundamentally different.” He defended job losses and pay cuts at the airline, telling the transport select committee that BA was still fighting for survival. It flew only 187,000 passengers last week compared with 1m during the same period in 2019, and was operating only 25-30% of its schedule. Questioned over the controversial treatment of BA staff Cruz said he deeply regretted “that way too many loyal and hardworking colleagues are having to leave the business”. But he criticised the “optimism” in MPs’ questions, which suggested that pilots and crew could have been retained or have pay restored. Cruz said the changes he was proposing were solely a consequence of the pandemic: “The job at hand is huge, it is structural, it is really long term.” Cruz, meanwhile, said BA was close to reaching agreements with trade unions across the airline that would end its “fire and rehire” threat to 30,000 remaining employees. Cruz said the process was ongoing but he forecast total job losses would be in the region of 10,000, rather than the maximum 13,000 the airline had proposed. <br/>
