Coronavirus: British Airways expected to suspend 36,000 staff

The famous British airline had to take serious action because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Cabin crew to ground staff, engineers and head office employees of British Airways is expected to suspend. The total of employees is 36,000. This action should be taken because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

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British Airways expected to suspend staff: the agreement

British Airways has been negotiating for more than a week with the Unite union.

The two sides have reached a broad agreement but need to detailing a few notes. Then a British Airways spokesperson said the talk will continue. Based on the agreement, up to 80% of BA employees will be placed on furlough, but no one will be made redundant. At Gatwick and London City Airport, all BA staff will be suspended after the airline stopped flying to and from both airports until the pandemic is over, while it is still running services at Heathrow.

They will receive some of their wages through the government’s Coronavirus job retention scheme. It covers 80% of the salary capped at a maximum of £2,500 a month. International Airlines Group (IAG), which is BA’s parent company is in a better financial position than other carriers. It has extended a £1.1bn credit buffer by a year to June 2021. This means it has access to €9.3bn (£8.2bn) in cash, cash equivalents, and loans.

Because of the Coronavirus, the aviation industry must face a hard situation by the travel restrictions imposed. Thousands of airline staff have been temporarily laid off or are taking unpaid leave. Let’s say Easyjet and Virgin are setting up schemes for thousands of laid-off crew to volunteer over the next two months with the NHS or work in supermarkets. In particular, Easyjet has already faced bad reality since March. Now British Airways is trying to “save” the employees and company.