British Airways currently empliys 4,346 captains and pilots. By Christmas it will have fired more than a quarter of them. And there will be no generous payoffs, just the bare minimum statutory notice period. The Airline says in a letter to the pilots union that if it does not act this way it will threaten its very future. The language is stark and a reminder that anyone predicting a V shaped economic recovery is dreaming.
I was due to fly back to Greece on Saturday with British Airways but I did not. It is not for the reason you think, there being no British Airways flights at all out of Heathrow and Gatwick due to an IT bollocks up, but for other reasons equally damning of the airline, now part of International Airlines Group (IAG).
International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has been on a steady upwards trajectory ever since taking a big hit to its share price when the UK voted in favour of Brexit last June, but that rise looks like it is about to hit a brick wall following last week’s debacle involving British Airways.