British Airways announces £50 million loss
British Airways announces £50 million loss
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British Airways has announced losses of £50 million for the third quarter and warned its faces a record annual shortfall.
The airline declared the losses were down from the £122 million recorded in the same period in 2008 and were considerably better than had been predicted by some financial analysts.
BA's financial situation remains precarious though and has been forced into implementing a series of radical cost-cutting measures over the last year or so, including cutting around 1,200 jobs and asking other staff to work for free.
The company is currently also locked in a high court battle over planned strikes by its cabin crew which it successfully managed to avoid over the Christmas break.
Commenting on the continuing losses, BA chief executive Willie Walsh said operating costs had been cut by around ten per cent as the airline reacted to "new business realties" created by the global financial crisis.
"We still expect to make record losses this year. Permanent structural change is being introduced in all areas and will return us to sustained profitability," he said in a statement.
The results announced today bring BA's total losses for the first nine months of its financial year to £342 million.
The union Unite is currently re-balloting 12,000 cabin crew for industrial action on a row over schedules and contracts, with the result set to be announced on February 22nd.