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LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - British Airways is in
talks with its union about a plan to suspend around 32,000 staff
in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with
the situation said.
The British flag carrier has massively reduced flights and
warned it will need to cut jobs to survive the emergency as the
battered aviation sector frantically seeks to take out costs.
Owned by IAG, BA has already suspended flights from
Britain's second busiest airport, Gatwick, and its parent
company has said flying capacity would be down 75% in April and
May.
Under the BA plan around 80% of staff including cabin crew,
ground staff, engineers and those in head office will have their
jobs suspended. The BBC, which first reported the news, said no
staff would be made redundant.
Rival airline easyJet said on Monday that it had
grounded its entire fleet.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
James Davey)