(Alliance News) - British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, has signed an agreement in principle with unions GMB and Unite over its restructuring plan.
The agreement applies to "those colleagues working above the wing in Heathrow and in engineering" and was announced in a staff letter by Alex Cruz, chief executive of British Airways, on Tuesday. The letter, seen by Alliance News, was first reported by the Financial Times.
The news follows the UK flag carrier's previous announcement that it plans to cut as many as 12,000 jobs. British Airways's restructure is intended to help it survive in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to grounded flights and very limited air travel - with countries closing borders or imposing strict quarantining measures on travellers.
In the letter, Cruz said the business had "made significant progress" in its negotiations and achieved an agreement in principle. Cruz also said that the deal would "save jobs and mitigate the impact of redundancies".
Last month, British Airlines signed a deal on pilots pay cuts and redundancies that helped cut compulsory job losses but it has been harder to reach agreements with the GMB and Unite unions for other parts of the workforce like cabin crew.
In his letter, Cruz wrote: "We have not yet managed to reach an agreement for colleagues working below the wing at Heathrow, but we are committed to continue meeting with them to discuss a way forward in the coming days. I am hopeful that we will make the same progress as we have done in the other areas."
Shares in IAG were down 3.2% at 211.20 pence in London on Wednesday morning.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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