Would you work for Peanuts?

British Airways is asking thousands of its staff to work for free for up to four weeks, according to its spokeswoman, Kirsten Millard. In an e-mail to all its staff, the airline offered workers between one and four weeks of unpaid leave -- but with the option to work during this period. British Airways employs just more than 40,000 people in the United Kingdom. Last month, the company posted a record annual loss of £400 million.

"I'm 30 years in this business and I've never seen anything like this. This is by far the biggest crisis the industry has ever faced," said Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive. Demand for the airline's passenger seats and cargo holds fell during the last financial year, while its fuel bill rocketed to almost £3 billion. Walsh said British Airways' woes were inextricably linked to the downturn in the global economy and that there had been absolutely no sign of any "green shoots" of recovery.

The airline's premium passenger numbers fell 13 percent in the second half of last year, in line with the industry average. Total traffic fell 3.4 percent and while the airline carried 33.1 million passengers last year, it was a drop of 4.3 percent from the previous year. The dip in demand for British Airways' flights has forced a switch in strategy at the airline. From the end of last year, it has been trying to tempt passengers with lower fares, sacrificing profit per seat for "bums on seats."

APA supports BA as it fights the economic pressures of the moment but feels it is a giant leap of faith to ask its workforce (especially its heavily unionised workforce) to consider making this investment in the company's future. We recognise this is the first step towards redundancy as the only realistic alternative, but feel it might be a difficult strategy to pull off.

Gareth