British Airways chief executive Alex Cruz has said that the carrier won’t survive the pandemic if the government does not introduce Covid-19-testing at airports, the media reported.
The Sun reported that Alex Cruz has said that British Airways is fighting for survival amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a result of the counter measures introduced to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, airlines globally were forced to ground their flight and cancel operations. As a result, air demand has plummeted significantly in the last couple of months.
Alex Cruz told the Telegraph that the airline operated at just 5 percent schedule in March, April and May, which had still only increased to 30 percent now.
He said, “Airports like our home Heathrow have testing stations set up and ready to go, but their teams are standing idle waiting while our government sits on its hands. Thirty other countries have introduced airport testing to unlock the problem, so my question to the government is, why can’t we?”
British Airways has warned that around 12,000 of its employees could potentially lose their jobs if help isn’t provided. Till date, the carrier have already axed more than 2000 from their catering firm Do & Co.
Earlier this year, British Airways became the latest carrier to retire its Boeing 747 aircraft from its fleet with immediate effect.
British Airways was the world’s largest operator of the type and has operated the Boeing 747-100, -200 and -400 variants.
In the month of May, British Airways took delivery of its first Boeing 787-10 aircraft.