Airport International has learnt that major British airline British Airways - which flies out of airports across the UK - has contacted a large portion of its workforce to ask whether they would be prepared to forgo a month's salary. The request was linked to BA's current cash-flow situation, and went out to over 30,000 UK workers - many of whom are employed at British airports including London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

The request put forward the options of taking leave on an unpaid basis, or of working for no financial return and, in both instances, suggested a period of between seven and 28 days.

The chief executive of BA, Willie Walsh, has set a company precedent by forgoing his July pay.

Staff Pay Cuts

Mr Walsh described the airline's staff pay cuts appeal as one component of "a fight for survival".

"I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way in this cash-effective way of helping the company's survival plan", he added. "These are the toughest trading conditions we have ever seen and there simply are no green shoots. Our survival depends on everyone contributing to changes that permanently remove costs from every part of the business."

A further representative from the airline spoke of how no specific target to be raised through the initiative had been set, bar it being "as much as possible."

British Airways Loss

In May 2009, details were made public of an unprecedented £400 million+ British Airways loss, which was semi-linked to rising fuel costs.

News of the pay cut drive emerged in May, with an initial request sent out to workers asking them to either take one month's holiday, or to work free of charge. In both cases, the specified time period was one month, and, in all, more than 1,000 people replied back.

The new appeal gives more alternatives in varying the timeframe from one week up to one month, and appeared in the airline's in-house publication, British Airways News.

'Colleagues are being urged to help the airline's cash-saving drive by signing up for unpaid leave or unpaid work', the request said.

'From tomorrow, people will be able to opt for blocks of unpaid leave or unpaid work, with salary deductions spread over three to six months, wherever possible. The new unpaid work option means people can contribute to the cash-saving effort by coming to work while effectively volunteering for a small cut in base pay.'

BA workers are reported to have until June 24th to respond to the pay cut drive.