BANKRUPTCY OF THE BRITISH AIRWAYS: 45 THOUSAND OF EMPLOYEES WENT ON AN INDEFINITE LEAVE

The largest British airline, “British Airways”, decided to save itself from bankruptcy by sending employees on indefinite leave - more than 45 thousand people received corresponding messages. Each of the letters is entitled “survival” and signed by director Alex Cruz.

The most disturbing sign is that the employers of the company compared the current situation with September 11, 2001. According to this, the things are going really bad.

An unprecedented number of aircraft are returned to the park and the job losses take place.

The situation was aggravated by the ban of the US leadership on accepting flights from the European countries, and though the UK citizens do not fall under the ban, many air carrier customers are people, traveling in transit from other countries, including those without Schengen visas. The most profitable transatlantic routes, that previously attracted a lot of travelers, are at risk now.

Having warned employees about the seriousness of the situation, the Executive Director actually acknowledged the possibility of bankruptcy of British Airways in case the crisis dragged on for a long time. In case of a negative development, sending a significant part of the staff on unpaid leave may mean dismissal, but we should note that the company began negotiations with trade unions in order to avoid further financial demands from former employees. Will the British Airways be able to maintain jobs taking into account that downtime cannot be determined?

The news that the British are not the only victims on the air transportation market is unlikely to be comforting for practically dismissed personnel. However, the fact that the authors of the message referred to the German company “Lufthansa”, which also incurs enormous losses, is quite reasonable. The flagship of the air transportation in Germany stated that it would park most of its aircraft and ask for the state assistance.

“British Airways” is part of the International Airlines Group (IAG). Its main carrier, “Iberia”, has already suffered from President Donald Trump's ban on flying to the United States. Since the company is based in Madrid, which became the epicenter of the outbreak of the virus epidemic in Spain (more than 50% of the deaths in the country come from the capital), the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommended that citizens not fly there unless absolute necessity.

Before the information from the US about the ban on taking planes from Europe appeared, the International Air Transport Association warned that air carriers could lose about $ 113 billion this year. Now such forecasts are likely to be seriously revised. And although the “British Airways” is unlikely to repeat the fate of the regional airline “Flybe”, the company's message on employees indicates a panic situation in the airline market as a whole.