British Airways chief tells MPs he won't back down on job cuts and gives new figures on refunds

Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways' owner International Airlines Group today wrote to MPs following his questioning this week to say he was pressing ahead with job-cutting plans.

In a letter to Transport Committee chairman Huw Merriman, Walsh defended his plan to axe 12,000 jobs.

He welcomed this week's extension of the furlough scheme but added: "However, we must act now to secure the maximum number of jobs possible, consistent with the reality of a structurally challenged airline industry in a severely weakened global economy.

"I want to confirm, therefore, that we will not pause our consultations or put our plans on hold."

MPs had criticised him for the redundancy plans, although his announcement of cuts had been echoed by similar moves from other airlines and travel companies.

The letter also alleges that Merriman had written to the airline industry trade body, Airlines UK, expressing concerns that his committee of MPs might "all appear to beat up on BA".

There had been speculation in the industry that the MP had wanted AUK to appear at the committee as well to dilute attention on Walsh.

Walsh's letter gave the latest statistics on refunds BA had paid to customers over covid cancellations. The airline had provided cash refunds to 921,000 tickets for 2.1 million flights. A further 47,000 bookings are still being processed.

A further 346,000 bookings were cancelled by customers in return for a voucher.