Last checked at 
* BA has grounded most flights
* Joins industry move to suspend staff
* Has already cut pilot pay
(Adds industry context)
By Kate Holton
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - British Airways is in
talks with its union about a plan to suspend around 32,000
staff, a person familiar with the situation said, marking one of
the industry's most dramatic moves yet to survive the
coronavirus pandemic.
Having already agreed a 50% pay cut for its pilots, the
British flag carrier is now nearing agreement on a deal to
suspend around 80% of its cabin and ground crew, engineers and
office staff to see it through the worst crisis in its history.
Owned by IAG, one of the largest and most financially robust
airline companies in the world, British Airways has already said
it is in a fight for survival.
"The deal is not done yet," the source said.
It has joined the global industry push to ground flights and
slash costs. In recent weeks Qantas Airways put
two-thirds of its workforce - 20,000 workers - on leave while
Lufthansa applied for short-time work for around 31,000 crew and
ground staff at its core brand until the end of August.
British budget airline easyJet has said it will lay
off its 4,000 UK-based cabin crew for two months.
U.S. airlines are set to receive $25 billion in grants to
cover payrolls over the next six months, but are still
encouraging workweek reductions, unpaid leaves and early
retirements as they face more cancellations than bookings.
The companies are trying to avoid making staff redundant so
they can respond quickly to any increase in capacity when a
recovery comes.
British Airways has been in talks with the Unite union for a
week. "Unite has been working around the clock to protect
thousands of jobs and to ensure the UK comes out of this
unprecedented crisis with a viable aviation sector," a spokesman
for the union said.
IAG, which owns 598 aircraft across its network which
includes Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, is cutting capacity by
75% in April and May. BA has already suspended flights from
Britain's second busiest airport, Gatwick, and London's City
Airport.
With planes unable to fly because of travel restrictions,
compounded by a plunge in demand over fears of contagion,
airlines worldwide have grounded most of their fleets, and many
have said they need government support to survive.
In Europe more than 20,000 flights departed or landed on
January 23. Two months later, after Italy emerged as an
epicenter for the virus and travel restrictions went into force,
flights dropped to fewer than 5,000 per day.
Britain has launched a job retention scheme which covers 80%
of someone's salary capped at a maximum of 2,500 pounds a month.
But some airlines including rival Virgin Atlantic have said they
will collapse if they do not get more help.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, James
Davey and Carmel Crimmins)
