British Airways boss Alex Cruz defends decision to axe 12,000 jobs

The boss of British Airways has defended his decision to cut 12,000 jobs and said the pandemic has left the national carrier 'fighting for survival'.

Chief executive Alex Cruz stressed that 'people need to get flying again' if the company is to emerge through the winter.

But he told MPs that many would-be customers are still cautious about travelling while countries are constantly brought on and struck off the government's quarantine list.

The boss of British Airways has defended his decision to cut 12,000 jobs and said the pandemic has left the national carrier 'fighting for survival'

Mr Cruz was this morning grilled by members of the Commons' Transport Select Committee, who probed him on the jobs bloodbath at BA during the pandemic.

In April, British Airways announced plans to axe up to 12,000 jobs, representing nearly 30 per cent of its workforce.

Mr Cruz said: 'Fewer passengers means fewer flights, and fewer flights means fewer people required to actually service them.

'As CEO of British Airways, I have to take responsibility. I cannot ignore the situation. I had to act incredibly fast.

'I deeply, deeply regret that way too many loyal and hardworking colleagues of mine are having to leave our business, and I understand why MPs are concerned.'

He added: 'This is an impossible situation. We're having to make incredibly difficult decisions as a consequence of this pandemic and it is really only because of Covid-19 that we have had to go through such deep restructuring.

'I have to make these difficult decisions at this time but I am completely dedicated and focused on protecting those nearly 30,000 jobs of those British Airways colleagues that will remain within the business.'

Chief executive Alex Cruz stressed that 'people need to get flying again' if the company is to emerge through the winter

The chief executive, whose fleet was mostly grounded during the pandemic, said his mission objective was the survival of Britain's flagship airline.

Not mincing his words about the precariousness of BA's future, he said: 'The main focus at the moment is to survive.

'We must make it through, then we must be able to compete effectively and make it through the recovery cycle... people need to get flying again.'

But his efforts could be thwarted by a nervous public who he claimed are avoiding trips abroad for fear of having to quarantine.

He said: 'People are still afraid of travelling. Of course, we are having weekly changes, as you know, to the quarantine list.

'We don't have a testing solution yet. And still our customers are paying APD (air passenger duty) even just to fly on domestic regional flights.

'So the overall situation is quite challenging, and this is why we are taking every measure possible to make sure that we can actually make it through this winter.'

Mr Cruz called on the government to approach its quarantine list of countries on a regional basis, allowing them still to fly to areas of a nation which has low cases.

In a wide-ranging committee appearance via video-link, he also reaffirmed BA's commitment to be net zero by 2050.