British Airways makes progress with job cuts

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - British Airways said on Friday it
was making progress with its plan to cut 12,000 jobs to help it
shrink as a result of the pandemic, with more than 6,000
employees deciding to take voluntary redundancy.

The airline, which is owned by IAG, will send out
letters to its remaining staff on Friday to tell them whether
they still have a job or not, and if they do, whether they will
be required to accept a new contract or stay on their old one.

The pandemic has hit air travel hard and British Airways
says demand won't recover for years. It is currently only flying
about 20% of its schedule and burning through 20 million pounds
per day.

"We are having to make difficult decisions and take every
possible action now to protect as many jobs as possible," a
spokesman for BA said.

But trade union Unite, which represents cabin crew, argues
that the airline has gone too far with the cuts it is proposing.

It has accused BA of trying to bring in big pay reductions
for staff that it will keep on and has organised protests
against the airline, tried to drum up political support for its
cause and threatened strike action.

While Unite says the pay cuts are as much as 70%, British
Airways says some cabin crew would receive a pay rise, while
others would see a 20% reduction in basic pay.

British Airways, which had 42,000 staff at the beginning of
the pandemic, has already agreed a jobs deal with pilots union
BALPA for a pay cut of about 20% and some compulsory job cuts
estimated around 270.

The letters being sent out by the airline on Friday to its
cabin crew, engineers, airports staff and others follow a
selection process.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)