The owner of British Airways has confirmed 12,000 jobs will be lost at the airline despite the Government extending its furlough scheme until the end of October.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh told MPs on Monday, before the extension announcement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, that he was not “picking on” British Airways.
Instead, he explained, the timing of the decision was due to the UK’s labour laws, which mean staff must be given a 45-day consultation period ahead of any redundancies.
But IAG, which also owns Iberia and Aer Lingus, said the redundancy consultation will continue, after he was asked to put it on hold.
He wrote: “I was pleased to see the announcement by the Chancellor that the CJRS (furlough scheme) is being extended. We commend the Chancellor for his decision and applaud his efforts to breathe some life into a dying economy.
“His actions will provide some additional relief to our people and our business. However, we must act now to secure the maximum number of jobs possible, consistent with the reality of a structurally changed airline industry in a severely weakened global economy.
“I want to confirm therefore that we will not pause our consultations or put our plans on hold.”
Industry experts fear it could take airlines at least three years to return to pre-coronavirus levels, meaning they would not be able to financially support staff while flights remain unfilled.
Others are attempting to preserve cash by offering vouchers to customers, instead of cash, and delaying payments.
Mr Walsh added that BA has processed cash refunds for 921,000 tickets involving 2.11 million flights, with a further 47,400 pending.
A further 346,000 bookings were cancelled by customers in return for a voucher, with 1,700 bookings where a voucher has been requested but has not yet been processed, he said.
He told MPs that initial redundancies were earmarked for British Airways because of differing employment laws in other countries where IAG operates.
