Deal reached to lay off British Airways staff during Covid-19 crisis

A deal has been agreed to lay off British Airways staff because of the Covid-19 crisis, a union has announced.

Unite said the airline will introduce a modified version of the Government’s job retention scheme, so that workers will be furloughed on 80% of pay.

Unlike the government scheme, there will be no cap on earnings, said the union.

Workers will be able to divert their pension contributions into their pay for a short period of time and there will be no unpaid temporary lay offs or redundancies, said Unite, adding that a redundancy process that had already begun has been halted.

Unite national officer for aviation Oliver Richardson said: “Given the incredibly difficult circumstances that the entire aviation sector is facing this is as good a deal as possible for our members.

“The deal protects the jobs of BA staff and, as far as possible, also protects their pay.

“This is what can and should be done to protect workers during this unprecedented time for the airline sector.”

The deal will now be circulated to Unite’s members at British Airways for their final approval.

It is understood that around 28,000 BA staff are affected by the agreement.