Another new blow to Gatwick Airport amid Covid-19 outbreak
and live on Freeview channel 276
British Airways announced this week that it is to make 12,000 of its 47.000 staff redundant because of a drastic drop in business,
More than 22,000 of the airline’s employees have already been furloughed.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWhile most of the airline’s operations are out of Heathrow, it is likely that Gatwick will also be affected.
Last week Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said it could take the airport up to four years to get back to pre-virus levels of business.
And in a letter to staff this week British Airways chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz spoke of ‘preparing for a different future.’
He said: “There is no Government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely. Any money we borrow now will only be short-term and will not address the longer-term challenges we will face.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“We do not know when countries will reopen their borders or when the lockdowns will lift, and so we have to reimagine and reshape our airline and create a new future for our people, our customers and the destinations we serve.”
He said the scale of the challenge required “substantial change so we are in a competitive and resilient position, not just to address the immediate Covid-19 pandemic, but also to withstand any longer-term reductions in customer demand, economic shocks or other events that could affect us.
“However challenging this is, the longer we delay difficult decisions, the fewer options will be open to us.”
A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:
In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWith the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.
Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.
Stay safe, and best wishes.