Will struggling British Airways cut spending?

Troubled British Airways said Friday that it would slash capital expenditure by one fifth in the current financial year after posting another sharp drop in monthly passenger numbers.

"Market conditions continue to be very challenging with trading at levels well below last year," the struggling airline said in a trading update.

"In response to the challenging economic conditions British Airways has reviewed its business plan.

"Forecast capital expenditure has been reduced from 725 million pounds to 580 million pounds for 2009-2010 and is likely to remain at that level in 2010-2011."

The airline also announced it carried 2.93 million passengers last month, 4.9 percent fewer than in June 2008.

And BA repeated that it wanted to slash 3,700 jobs in the current financial year, which runs until March 2010. It has already axed 2,500 jobs worldwide over the past year.

BA also revealed that it would delay the delivery of its fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos and announced more reductions to its summer 2009 and winter 2009-2010 flight schedules.

"The delivery schedule for the first six Airbus A380 aircraft has been extended by an average of five months with the first delivery still due in 2012," the carrier said.

"The schedule for the remaining six A380s has been extended by an average of two years with the final aircraft arriving in 2016."

In May, BA had reported an annual loss of 375 million pounds, blamed on plummeting demand for tickets as well as high fuel costs.

After diving into a financial loss, BA asked staff to work for free, while promising that chief executive Willie Walsh and finance director Keith Williams would forgo their July salaries.

Agencies

Will BMW layoff 850 workers at UK Mini plant?

BMW said on Monday that it will lay off 850 workers at its British factory which builds the Mini car to adjust to weaker demand.

The job cuts are the result of a review of operations at the factory in Cowley, near Oxford, where production will be suspended throughout this week and staff who currently work weekend shifts will be moved to weekday work, effective March 2.

BMW has 4,700 workers at Cowley, which can turn out 800 cars per day.

``While Mini has been weathering the economic downturn, it is not immune from the challenges of the current situation,'' BMW said in a statement.

``Against this backdrop the company felt that a review of its shift patterns was necessary. This decision has not been taken lightly. The plant's union representatives have, of course, been involved in the discussions.''

BMW reported earlier this month that sales of the Mini model rose 4.3 percent in 2008 to 232,425 cars. Overall, the company said sales dropped 5 percent across its product range.

In January, however, Mini sales were down 35 percent compared to January 2008. About 80 percent of the Minis built in Britain are exported.

Auto sales in Britain fell sharply at the end of the year because of the recession. Nissan has cut 1,200 jobs at its plant in Sunderland, England, while Honda has halted production at its Swindon plant for four months.

``Sacking an entire shift like this, and targeting agency workers who have no rights to redundancy pay, is blatant opportunism on BMW's part and nothing short of scandalous,'' said Tony Woodley, joint leader of the Unite union.

``BMW's parent company couldn't attempt this in Germany because it would be illegal to do so. It is a disgrace, therefore, that workers in this country can be so casually thrown to the dole.''

BMW acquired the Mini, a symbol of the swinging 1960s, when it bought the Rover car company in 1994.

Agencies

Alcatel to cut 1,000 manager jobs

Franco-American telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent said it plans to cut 1,000 managerial posts from its global workforce will see 198 positions in France eliminated.

Alcatel-Lucent managers in France told a works council meeting on Wednesday that 450 managerial posts would go in North America and 450 in Europe, of which 198 in France, the CFDT union said in a statement.

The company announced the decision to trim its executive ranks on Dec. 12 as part of a strategic plan aimed at cutting cut costs by 750 million euros by the fourth quarter of 2009, but did not say where the cuts would fall.

An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman said: "I can confirm the figures for France, but we are not making a statement on the other numbers."

According to the CFDT, 1,602 posts are classed as managerial in France, and while France makes up 10 percent of Alcatel-Lucent's workforce, it will bear 20 percent of the job cuts.

Alcatel-Lucent, the No. 3 player worldwide in terms of market share, behind Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and Finnish-German joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL], employs 77,000 worldwide and 11,000 in France.

The company, formed by the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in 2006, saw its share price fall 70 percent in 2008 after a string of profit warnings and last week posted a 5.2 billion euro loss for the year amid a record 4.7 billion euros in depreciations.

Since June, its share price has dropped more than 70 per cent.

Agencies