BA boss Alex Cruz claims carrier is ‘in fight to survive’

British Airways boss Alex Cruz claims carrier is ‘in a fight to survive’

The boss of British Airways has gone to war with Tory MPs as he launched an impassioned defence of plans to axe 12,000 furloughed staff. 

Alex Cruz said the airline was ‘in a fight to survive’ and the national carrier would emerge ‘much smaller’, as he hit back at comments by MPs sitting on the transport select committee. 

‘Fight to survive’: British Airways boss Alex Cruz said the airline would emerge from coronavirus ‘much smaller’

Tory MP Huw Merriman said it was a ‘national disgrace’ that BA was sacking staff whose wages were being covered by the state furlough scheme. 

Writing in the Mail on Sunday. Cruz said: ‘We are in a fight to survive. We know we will emerge from the Covid-19 crisis as a much smaller airline. We will have fewer customers and fly fewer routes for years to come.’ 

Last month Britain’s national carrier flew 485 passenger flights, fewer than the number flown in a single morning in normal times, bosses said.