They're in such a bad shape that they are asking their staff to work for FREE for up to a month!
QUOTE |
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Airways is asking thousands of its staff to work for free for up to four weeks, spokeswoman Kirsten Millard said Tuesday. In an e-mail to all its staff, the airline offered workers between one and four weeks of unpaid leave -- but with the option to work during this period. British Airways employs just more than 40,000 people in the United Kingdom. Last month, the company posted a record annual loss of £400 million ($656 million). Its chief executive declared at the time there were "absolutely no signs of recovery" in the industry. "I'm 30 years in this business and I've never seen anything like this. This is by far the biggest crisis the industry has ever faced," said Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive. A spokesman for one of Britain's biggest unions said its workers could not afford to work for free for a month. "It's all well and good for Willie Walsh to say he's prepared to work for free when he earns four times in a month what they do in a year," said Ciaran Naidoo, a spokesman for Unite. He pointed out that the airline was not ordering staff to work without pay. "It's a request -- you can take unpaid leave or you can work for free, and the chances of people working for free are very unlikely, but there might be some people who want to take unpaid leave... |
I've never been on Brisitsh Airways. I heard good things about them but I'm not going to be paying for every little extra. I thionk it should only be courtesy for you to choose your seat if you are booking in advance. It does not cost them anything to reserve a seat for you. If you're trying to get a last minute ticket then I can understand.