Today, the company announced a company-wide pay freeze, the offer of unpaid leave or part-time working to staff, and putting a stop to management bonuses. It is also in talks with unions about "pay and productivity changes".

The company will also reduced external spend by slashing its use of contractors by 15 to 20 percent and stopping the use of consultants. It has also started talks with suppliers to cut costs.

Earlier this month BA's global chief information officer Paul Coby detailed the criticality of keeping a tight rein on suppliers.

In an interview with sister publication , it was critical to recognise "that you have different sorts of suppliers, like Amadeus for reservations, and SITA for our networks. Along with BAA, they are the most mission-critical for us and we need very particular relationships with those organisations."

"If you outsource functions that's still your accountability as a CIO and as a brand. Customers don't care and nor should they if someone is directly employed by BA, SITA or Amadeus."