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Lawmakers label British Airways 'national disgrace' over jobs

WION Web Team
London, London, UK (Great Britain)Updated: Jun 13, 2020, 04:19 PM IST
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British Airways Photograph:(AFP)

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Britain's Transport Select Committee said that BA and its parent company IAG were trying to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to cut 12,000 jobs and downgrade the terms and conditions of other employees.

British Airways has been labelled a "national disgrace" by lawmakers for its treatment of employees, adding to pressure on the airline as it juggles job cuts and new quarantine rules.

Britain's Transport Select Committee said that BA and its parent company IAG were trying to take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to cut 12,000 jobs and downgrade the terms and conditions of other employees.

In response, a spokeswoman for the airline said they would do everything in their power to ensure that "British Airways can survive and sustain the maximum number of jobs consistent with the new reality of a changed airline industry in a severely weakened global economy."

BA is engaged in legal action against the government over its quarantine policy, which requires all international arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days.

The lawmakers said in the report that quarantine would damage the economy and called for the government to replace it with more targetted measures, such as travel corridors between low-risk countries.

BA, along with competitor airlines easyJet and Ryanair, launched legal action on Friday to try to overturn the quarantine policy.

All three have announced job cuts, but so far only BA has been singled out for its tactics.