Flagship airline British Airways will temporarily lay off 28,000 employees, or 60 per cent of its workforce, due to the coronavirus crisis which is paralysing the sector, trade union Unite announced on Thursday.
Unite, which represents thousands of workers employed by BA, said it had “reached agreement with the company” to use a version of the government’s business support programme for around 28,000 staff, guaranteeing 80 per cent of salaries to avoid redundancies.
But there will be no cap on earnings — set at £2,500 per month under the government scheme — no unpaid temporary lay offs and no redundancies during the crisis, said the union.
