BA boss tells critics: We’re in f ight to survive

Alex Cruz defends plans to axe 12,000 jobs – and vows to bolster airline for survival

THE boss of British Airways today hits back at MPs who have criticised his plan to axe 12,000 jobs, warning that the airline is ‘in a fight to survive’.

MPs on the Transport Select Committee yesterday branded BA a ‘national disgrace’ for announcing redundancy plans for almost one in four staff while many are still on the Government’s furlough scheme.

In an article for The Mail on Sunday, Alex Cruz defends the mass redundancies, saying BA has to go through a ‘painful’ restructuring to survive the aviation industry’s biggest-ever crisis. Cruz also slams the Government’s 14-day quarantine for arrivals in the UK, which he says has dealt a ‘hammer blow’ to BA’s plans for more flights in July.

The BA chief executive writes: ‘We are in a fight to survive.

‘We know we will emerge from the Covid- 19 crisis as a much smaller airline.

‘We will have fewer customers and fly fewer routes for years to come.

Our business will be laden with hundreds of millions of pounds in new debt, so any revenues we make when we return to flying will be swallowed up by loan repayments.’

Cruz dismissed accusations that BA is using the pandemic as an excuse to slash costs.

Unions have accused the airline of using a ‘fire and rehire’ strategy to downgrade pay and conditions for staff it keeps on.

The claims have led to a bitter stand-off with trade unions, with GMB and Unite refusing to attend talks unless BA withdraws its formal redundancy proposals. Last night, Balpa, which represents BA’s 4,300 pilots, also threatened to withdraw from negotiations.

Cruz accuses the unions of ‘scaremongering’. He says: ‘I will do everything in my power to ensure that British Airways can sustain the maximum number of jobs in line with the new reality of a changed airline industry and a severely weakened global economy.’

Huw Merriman, Conservative chair of the Commons Transport Select Committee, yesterday led the criticisms of BA for announcing redundancies while 22,626 of its 42,000 staff are furloughed.

As of mid-May, BA had received close to £35 million from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Mr Merriman told The Mail on Sunday that he will this week press for a meeting with Chancellor Rishi Sunak to ask the Treasury to close the loophole that allows firms to make staff redundant while they are receiving taxpayer cash from the furlough scheme.

THE boss of British Airways today launches an impassioned defence of his plans to axe 12,000 jobs and cut the salaries of pilots, cabin crew and other staff.

Writing in The Mail on Sunday (below), Alex Cruz hits back at the stinging criticisms he has faced from MPs and trade union officials over the past seven days.

He accused unions of ‘scaremongering’ and described criticisms levelled by MPs as ‘ partial and parochial’.

The MoS can reveal that Tory MP and Transport Select Committee chairman Huw Merriman is lobbying the Treasury to ban companies such as BA from announcing redundancies while their staff are on furlough and the taxpayer is funding their wages.

Merriman said he will this week ask f or a meeting with Rishi Sunak to ask the Chancellor to close the ‘loophole’ in the Government’s job retention scheme and force BA to wait until later in the year before proceeding with any redundancy plans.

Meanwhile, unions have accused Cruz of exploiting the Covid- 19 crisis to enact a ‘fire and rehire’ strategy.

They claim that BA is exaggerating its cash crisis and using the pandemic as cover to bring back the bulk of employees on reduced terms and conditions.

In an escalation of the increasingly acrimonious row, Cruz rejects all the allegations, explaining that

BA will ‘emerge from the Covid-19 crisis a much smaller airline’ laden with ‘ hundreds of millions of pounds of new debt’ which will ‘swallow’ its revenues.

He writes: ‘ To suggest we are focused on anything but our immediate survival in the short term, plus a sustainable and competitive re-emergence for the longer term, is not true.

‘Like other companies facing job losses, I do not want to deprive my people of their livelihoods.

‘It is painful to contemplate the scale of the change we need to make because I know we have the best people in the business. I will do everything in my power to ensure that British Airways can survive and sustain the maximum number of jobs in line with the new reality of a changed airline industry and a severely weakened global economy.’

Cruz also hits out at the Government’s ‘irrational’ 14-day quarantine for passengers arriving in the UK from other countries, which he says has dealt a ‘hammer blow’ to BA’s plans to get flying again in July.

BA’s parent company IAG is suing the Government over the laws, which were introduced last Monday. The row with unions shows no prospect of ending, despite the minimum consultation period for redundancies ending tomorrow.

The dispute has become focused on whether BA was correct to issue a so- called Section 188 notice, which begins formal redundancy proceedings.

The GMB union claims BA ‘reneged’ on an agreement in April not to issue the notice, which details all the legal information required for formal consultations with employees and unions. GMB and Unite are refusing to engage in consultation talks and insist that BA withdraws the notice.

Balpa, which represents BA’s 4,300 pilots, last night threatened to pull out of talks, describing Cruz’s approach to redundancies as ‘ tantamount to putting a gun to people’s heads’.

In response, Cruz says: ‘We will not step back from our legal obligations on consulting our employees.’