British Airways is preventing for its survival and burning

• The coronavirus pandemic has left British Airways (BA) preventing for its survival, Alex Cruz, the CEO of the airline, stated Wednesday.

• Cruz, who has taken a one-third pay lower, stated BA is burning by £20 million ($25.9 million) per day.

• Solely 187,000 passengers flew with the BA on the week beginning September 7, in comparison with 1 million this time final yr, he instructed a authorities committee.

• Go to Enterprise Insider’s homepage for extra tales.

The UK’s flag-carrier airline British Airways (BA) is preventing for survival, its boss stated Wednesday.

Its CEO Alex Cruz instructed a authorities committee that the coronavirus pandemic is “worst disaster that British Airways has gone by in its 100 years of historical past,” including that the agency is burning by £20 million ($25.9 million) per day. He has taken a one-third pay lower, he stated.

The corporate has already lower greater than 8,000 jobs.

“COVID has devastated our enterprise, our sector, and we’re nonetheless preventing for our personal survival,” he stated.

Solely 187,000 passengers travelled with the corporate on the week beginning September 7, he stated, in comparison with 1 million on the identical time final yr. 

“We stay apprehensive concerning the virus within the winter season. Individuals are nonetheless afraid of travelling. We’re having weekly modifications to the quarantine listing. All the information that we get are nonetheless pointing at a gradual restoration course of,” Cruz stated.

British Airways has joined different airways in calling for a test-and-quarantine scheme between London and New York — the world’s busiest intercontinental air hyperlink — that can “reduce the quarantine course of” and encourage passengers to fly once more. However the authorities says that there isn’t any different to 14 days of self-isolation.

In April, British Airways introduced plans to chop as much as 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce. This has since been elevated to 13,000. Cruz described the job cuts on as an “unimaginable scenario” on Wednesday, including: “I deeply, deeply remorse that manner too many loyal and hardworking colleagues of mine are having to go away our enterprise.”

Learn the unique article on Enterprise Insider