800 British Airways staff agree to work for free

Struggling British Airways yesterday said 800 staff had agreed to work unpaid and thousands more to pay cuts, helping the group save up to £10 million (€11.7 million).

After diving into a financial loss, the airline last month asked staff to work for free, while promising that chief executive officer Willie Walsh and BA's finance director Keith Williams would forgo their July salaries.

"This is a fantastic first response" to BA's cost-cutting programme, Mr Walsh said in a statement yesterday.

"I want to thank everyone who has volunteered to help us pull through this difficult period. This response clearly shows the significant difference individuals can make."

But one senior union official said staff had been bullied into accepting BA's proposals.

"Less than two per cent of the entire workforce volunteered to work for free," said Steve Turner, a national officer for Britain's biggest union Unite.

"While we support means to mitigate redundancy, workers were sent intimidating e-mails from senior managers which we believe put pressure on staff to volunteer for one of the changes BA proposed, otherwise they would get a meeting with a manager.

"This bullying and constant harassment of our members is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he added.

The world's leading commercial airlines are facing a major cash squeeze as the global economic slump crushes demand for plane tickets.

BA last month reported an annual loss of £375 million, also blamed on high fuel costs. The airline has cut 2,500 jobs worldwide over the past year.

Yesterday, a BA spokesman said: "800 (have) opted to work for free" for up to a month.

The airline added in a statement: "Nearly 7,000 British Airways staff have taken an early opportunity to apply for voluntary pay cuts in support of the airline's cost reduction programme.

"Of the 40,000-strong workforce, 6,940 employees had volunteered for unpaid leave, part-time working or unpaid work... Their actions will save the company up to 10 million."

BA's announcement came shortly before the end of stock market trading. The airline's share price closed up 1.04 per cent at 126.60 pence on London's FTSE 100 index, which ended yesterday down 0.64 per cent at 4,252.57 points.