Six days' pay bonus as BA staff share profit

A windfall of £45million is to be shared by 40,000 British Airways staff after the one-time struggling national carrier reported earnings last year of £415 million.

After 13,000 job cuts and a major cost-slashing programme by Australian chief executive Rod Eddington, BA has become the world's most profitable airline.

The staff will receive a bonus of six days' pay - a minimum of £600 for the lowest paid but substantially more for more senior staff.

Mr Eddington, who has a record of waiving bonuses because of BA's previous poor performance, will be in line for a so far undisclosed but much bigger bonus on top of his £550,000 pay.

The airline's profits, which are up 80 per cent on the previous year, will be seen as a vindication of Mr Eddington's work.

He has turned BA round since the depths of the post-9/11 recession, when the chief executive had to admit that - losing £2 million a day, and with debts of £6.6 billion - the airline was within months of going bust.

BA passengers have enjoyed average 4 per cent falls in air fares over the last year, but there is no end in sight to the fuel surcharge the airline has slapped on tickets. This year, BA warned, the soaring price of oil will see its fuel bill rise by 36 per cent to £1.5 billion.