British Airways to Sacked Quarter of its Pilot Due to Corona Virus Crisis

The airways which had about 42,000 employees had been struggling due to the pandemic crisis which has faced a major fall down due to no passengers.

As per sources, an official note has been penned to pilots stating that it has decided to cut down 955 for what it says “volume adjustment” along with 175 more down cut down ending in “efficiency changes”.

This will mean that an approximate of 1,130 pilots will be cut down out of 4,346 mentioned in the letter.

Further, it said that the sacked employees will be split amidst captains and co-pilots. Besides, out of 10, 9 flights have been halted post complete shutdown of the UK.

It also mentioned that it will take “several years” to be back to normal like last year. Alex Cruz BA chief executive stated that: “In the last few weeks, the outlook for the aviation industry has worsened further and we must take action now.

“We are a strong, well-managed business that has faced and overcomes, many crises in our hundred-year history. “We must overcome this crisis ourselves, too.”

“There is no Government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely.”

Adding to this he said: “We will see some airlines go out of business.” An approx of 4,500 pilots and 16,000 crew members were employed with British Airways. But it is still unclear how many will be sacked in each position.

IAG stated: “In light of the impact of Covid-19 on current operations and the expectation that the recovery of passenger demand to 2019 levels will take several years, 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.”

“As previously announced, British Airways has availed itself of the UK’s Covid-19 job retention scheme and furloughed 22,626 employees in April.”