British Airways Says Strikes will not Deflect Further Cost Cuts
It seems that the chief executive of British Airways has recently said that union strike threats will not deflect him from further cost cuts. This announcement came as the airline showed its record half year losses of £292 million.
The chief executive of British Airways, Willie Walsh, has urged the airline’s 14,000 cabin crew members to step back from their threatened pre-Christmas industrial action. He went on to stress that further cost reduction is very essential for the well-being of the airline, which is facing a £1 billion drop in revenue.
Willie Walsh went on to stress that British Airways has yet to receive any kind of official notification of the ballot. He also said that he is not going to stop managing the business to meet the challenges that they face. Walsh said that the strike threat is irrelevant to him, and he has not given any consideration to it at all.
British Airways has shown that there is evidence that things are not getting worse, which is good news. However, the company is still losing money, and thus, cuts have to be made. Some experts say that many of the cabin crew members fail to see the fact that, if these cuts are not made, they will be out of the job anyway. Thus, it’s either make the cuts or everyone will lose their job in due time.
Willie Walsh has pointed out that he is still very confident about sealing an all share merger with Spanish carrier Iberia and has no intention of given up on the negotiations after 16 months. He said that giving up would be like running a long marathon and then quitting just 100 meters before the finish line.
