LONDON (Dispatches) -
British Airways has warned it is facing a “serious” problem over wage costs which will “steeply increase” when the furlough scheme ends in September.
In a memo to staff, the airline said its flight schedule and staff costs will not line up in their current form.
BA said it believed this would be a temporary problem, but it was a “serious one which we need to manage”.
The warning comes alongside plans to set up a lower cost subsidiary airline at its Gatwick base.
BA halted its short-haul flights from the airport at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It said the new subsidiary would run alongside its long-haul Gatwick routes.
In its email to staff, the airline said the furlough scheme, which ends on 30 September, had been a “huge help”.
However, it added that when it ends, “our pay costs will steeply increase, and any increase in costs is bad news”.
“We know that our schedule and our operating costs for the rest of this year will not line up.”
The email also said that the carrier had found itself in a “constant guessing game” when it came to changes in international travel regulations.
It expressed frustration at the chopping and changing of travel rules: “We hoped that our industry would be back on its feet this year, and that the journey to pre-pandemic levels of flying would be well under way.