BA to cut staff costs by £300m

British Airways is aiming to cut £300m in staffing costs over the next two years in a move that the airline admits is likely to result in significant numbers of job losses, some of which could hit the IT department.

BA's CEO, Rod Eddington, revealed the figure today as part of the airline's new business plan for 2004-2006.

The plan includes a 30 per cent reduction in employee costs in head office and support functions and 15 per cent in operational areas, but a BA spokesman told silicon.com that no actual headcount reduction figures have been set or assigned to specific business functions.

"There are a number of ways of lowering staff costs without losing jobs, such as part-time working, but there will be some job losses," he said.

Other options outlined in the plan include unpaid leave, early retirement, natural wastage and restricted recruitment, although there is still likely to be some uncertainty about potential losses in the 1,900-strong IT department.

Eddington said in a statement: "We must make the necessary changes in partnership with our staff and trade unions, and without impacting on the service our customers have rightly come to expect."

IT has been a key plank of the £450m company-wide savings already made as part of BA's Future Size and Shape programme, with initiatives such as employee self-service and customer-enabled BA, and the BA spokesman said greater use of technology remains vital to the airline's future.

"IT is one of the things over the past few years that has been working smarter and more efficiently and that will continue," he said.