As part of a strategy to cut costs, British Airways [BA] will keep most of its headquarters near London Heathrow Airport [LHR] empty.
During the pandemic, the majority of the airline’s staff has been working from home. Thus, BA’s Waterside headquarters has not registered its usual levels.
Even when the decision to leave the headquarters empty seems normal under current circumstances, it has other implications.
The company is also moving part of its staff to other buildings, reported headforpoints.com editor Rob Burgess.
Burgess said that it was very clear that BA “was leaving no stone unturned,” even if that meant leaving its building almost empty for many months.
According to the report, BA’s global operations team, including senior management, will move to Technical Block C at Hatton Cross. The company held its HQ there until 1998 before moving to Waterside.
Burgess said the block allocation was a joint work signal. But this also implies that the carrier’s recovery would be “longer and harder than it first imagined.”
Regarding BA’s situation, a spokesperson said it was exploring options to control costs in an optimum way.
Waterside is a luxurious building. However, it would disappear if plans for a third runway at LHR are still on due to its Harmondsworth location.
By now, the airport is moving airlines from Terminals 2 and 5. As the pandemic lowered passenger demand, LHR operators decided to close Terminals 3 and 4 until next year.
Comments are closed.