BA Announces Summer Loss.     November 2009.      

British Airways has announced  its first ever summer losses as it presented its interim management report for the six months to the end of September. The report revealed an operating loss of £111 million (2008: profit of £140 million) and a pre-tax loss of £292 million.

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With the aviation business still in recession BA have  reduced summer schedule capacity by 3.5 per cent, and  costs are roughly  £400 million lower . Manpower has been cut by 1900 through reduced overtime, increased part time working and targeted voluntary redundancy.

A spokesman commented that the company would introduce further structural change during  the next six months to secure the long term future for the business.  Winter capacity has been cut by 6 per cent and there will be  further manpower reductions of 3000 employees by March 2010

New services for customers have been introduced to strengthen  BA's position as the leading global premium airline. Business flights between London City and JFK were launched , which are proving to be popular , and all passengers have the  option to pay to reserve seats more than 24 hours in advance and this service has seen an excellent response ..Cabin upgrades continue and, with  Club World refurbishment nearly complete,a new First cabin will be introduced in the New Year. in the New Year.

Premium leisure demand has been strong during the last six months and there will be  new leisure destinations ,with six new routes starting this winter. 

The benefits of Terminal 5 continue, following the first full summer in the terminal.  Baggage performance hit record levels , and customer satisfaction surveys have been regularly satisfactory.

There was some marginally better news for BA yesterday after the Unite union failed to win an immediate legal ruling to prevent changes to proposed working practices.

Unite had sought a High Court injunction to block BA introducing new working arrangements on November 16th. However, after legal submissions from both sides, Unite has agreed to wait for a full trial on February 1 to examine its contention that the changes are a “breach of its members’ contracts”.

The union will continue with its planned strike ballot of British Airways cabin staff and the result of the strike vote will be known on 14 December.