British Airways Chairman and CEO, Alex Cruz, has been summoned to face the House of Commons Transport Select Committee Business Travel News www.btnews.co.uk .

He will appear Wednesday 16 September at 09:30 for the two-hour session which will be transmitted live by Parliament’s TV channel.

The session will be an opportunity for the Committee to receive an update on the current challenges facing the aviation sector and British Airways’ staffing plans.  With the event six weeks away, and Mr Cruz’s boss, chief executive of IAG, Willie Walsh, due to step down the following week (24 September) it is bound to be an eagerly awaited interrogation.

The Committee’s June 2020 report, The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the aviation sector, explored the gravity of the crisis facing the aviation sector.

Among recommendations on quarantines and the Government’s recovery strategy, MPs condemned the behaviour of British Airways and its parent company towards its employees.

The report acknowledged that some job losses would be unavoidable but urged UK-based airlines and other aviation employers not to proceed hastily with large scale redundancies and restructuring to employees’ terms and conditions until the Job Retention Scheme ends in October and they have the opportunity to consider Government plans to help the sector restart and recover.