Redundancies begin

BA is splashed across the front pages today with the announcement yesterday that it plans to shed 12,000 jobs (see European, Airline News below). The unions are claiming that BA has “jumped the gun” and should continue to negotiate with the UK Treasury department for an aviation sector bailout. Gary Pearce, GMB London Regional Officer said that BA “cannot know with any certainty what the future is in terms of how soon airline passenger numbers will recover” and called for it to withdraw its statement and push for further government support and an extension to the furlough scheme beyond June.