LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Airways is set to slash up to 12,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan as the carrier grapples with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic, its parent company IAG said Tuesday.

The firm said it was still deliberating its options but that it was “likely that they will affect most of British Airways’ employees and may result in the redundancy of up to 12,000”.

Passenger demand will take “several years” to return to 2019 levels, it added.

Shares in International Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns Iberia and Vueling, lost 2.2 per cent as preliminary results showed that first quarter revenue fell by 13 per cent to 4.6 billion euros (US$4.9 billion).

The group’s operating result before exceptional items came in at a loss of 535 million euros, compared with a profit of 135 million last year, with the second quarter expected to be worse.

IAG said it had reduced passenger capacity for April and May by 94 per cent compared with the same period last year.

BA chief executive Alex Cruz warned last month of consequences for the airline after the coronavirus pandemic gutted demand.

Recent weeks have seen it operating flights only for essential travel and repatriation of tourists marooned abroad.

The carrier, which has approximately 45,000 employees including around 4,000 pilots and 16,500 cabin crew, has already furloughed nearly 23,000 staff.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) union, called Tuesday’s announcement “a bolt out of the blue”, noting that BA had previously suggested “it was wealthy enough to weather the COVID storm and declined any government support”.

“Balpa does not accept that a case has been made for these job losses and we will be fighting to save every single one,” Strutton said on the union’s Twitter account.

Weighing further on IAG was an exceptional 1.3 billion euro charge resulting, it said Tuesday, from the “ineffectiveness” of its fuel and foreign currency hedges for the remainder of the year.