BA planes sprayed with tonnes of foam in incident at Heathrow hangar
6 May 2020, 11:33
British Airways planes at Heathrow were doused with fire-suppressing foam days after the company announced that up to 12,000 jobs were at risk because of the Covid-19 crisis.
Tons of frothy fire-retardant were sprayed on a Boeing 777 and 787 in a hangar at Heathrow over the weekend.
BA said the incident was “an accident” however there were claims that the act may have been carried out by disgruntled employees.
— gary parker (@parkybird) May 5, 2020
The airline blamed fire prevention systems on the mishap.
A BA spokesman said: “One of our fire prevention systems experienced a technical issue, causing foam to be dispersed."
On April 28, BA announced plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce due to a collapse in business because of Covid-19.
The airline's parent company, IAG, said it needed to impose a "restructuring and redundancy programme" until demand returned.
BA chief executive Alex Cruz wrote in a letter to staff: "In the last few weeks, the outlook for the aviation industry has worsened further and we must take action now. We are a strong, well-managed business that has faced into, and overcome, many crises in our hundred-year history.
"We must overcome this crisis ourselves, too. There is no government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely."
