British Airways to suspend 36,000 staff days

British Airways is expected to announce it will suspend around 36,000 staff as it battles to survive the coronavirus crisis.

The airline has reached a broad deal with the Unite union that will include the suspension of 80 per cent of its cabin crew, ground staff, engineers and those working at head office.

Crucially however, no staff are expected to be made redundant as a result of the deal, which came after ten days of intense talks.

On Tuesday, the airline axed all its flights to and from Gatwick Airport as COVID-19 continues to strangle the aviation industry.

The airline, which jets to Europe, America and the Caribbean from the West Sussex airport, has already mothballed many planes across its UK bases including London City Airport - but is still running from London Heathrow with a severely reduced schedule.

It is also among the airlines helping repatriate Britons stuck abroad following Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's pledge to set aside £75 million to help get people home.

Staff affected are expected to receive some of their wages through the government job retention scheme - which offers 80 per cent of someone's average pay up to £2,500-a-month.


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