British Airways has appealed to its nearly 40,000 employees to work free for a month in July in order to keep the carrier afloat after suffering its worst loss since 1987. (See: British Airways post biggest ever loss since 1987)

UK's flagship airline British Airways (BA) sent this astonishing 'fight for survival' appeal through individual letters to all employees and in the BA in-house newspaper British Airways News under the headline Action Time stating, "Colleagues are being urged to help the airline's cash-saving drive by signing up for unpaid leave or unpaid work.''

The appeal from chief executive Willie Walsh comes after he announced last week that he would work for free during July, forgoing his salary of £61,000, which was then taken up by chief financial officer Keith Williams, who also announced the same.

Walsh wrote, ''I am looking for every single part of the company to take part in some way. It really counts. We face a fight for survival. These are the toughest trading conditions we have ever seen and there simply are no green shoots.''

The letter added, 'From tomorrow, people will be able to opt for blocks of unpaid leave or unpaid work, with salary deductions spread over three to six months, wherever possible.''

'The new unpaid work option means people can contribute to the cash-saving effort by coming to work while effectively volunteering for a small cut in base pay.''

British Airways appeal stated that the scheme would help minimise the financial impact on individuals, while helping to immediately save cash for the business, although it did not state as to how much the airline would save through this appeal.

In the last twelve months, the iconic British airline had gone from a record profit of £922 million to a record pre-tax loss of £401 million due to the current tough economic environment.

The airline then mooted the idea last month of asking employees to volunteer for a month's unpaid leave, or to work for free for that time, which got in more than 1,000 responses.

But the latest scheme is more flexible since it appeals to employees to volunteer by 24 June for between one week and one month of unpaid leave or unpaid work and the salary deductions will be spread over between three and six months.

Meanwhile, the carrier is looking at axing nearly 4,000 job cuts, which includes 2,000 voluntary redundancies from its14,000 strong cabin crew.

BA cabin crew and pilots are reported to being paid nearly twice as much as rival airlines. BA's cabin crew's average salary including bonuses and allowances is £29,900, while cabin crew at Virgin Atlantic salary plus perks is £14,400 and £20,200 at easyJet.

Pilots at BA's earn an average of £107,600 while pilots at Virgin earn £89,500 and £71,400 at easyJet.

The company has been reducing its workforce for several years as a result of natural wastage and increased efficiency, and since last summer, the airline has reduced its overall work force by more than 2,500 and has initiated talks with its trade unions about pay and productivity changes.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), in a revised 2009 forecast isued this month, said that airlines worldwide are expected to suffer a combined loss of $9 billion in 2009. (See: Global airline losses to mount to $9 billion in 2009: IATA)

Recession is the most significant factor impacting the industry's bottom line. IATA's revised forecast sees revenues declining an unprecedented 15 per cent ($80 billion) from $528 billion in 2008 to $448 billion in 2009.

European carriers are expected to post losses of $1.8 billion with collapsing demand for premium services in all major markets served by the region's carriers (intra-Europe, North Atlantic and Europe to Asia).

India's national carrier Air India had announced yesterday that for the first time in its history, its 31,000-plus employees will receive their salary two weeks late. (See: Air India delays salaries, awaits bailout package)

The airline's losses for the last fiscal are estimated at over Rs4,000 crore, while its monthly wages and incentives bill comes to around Rs350 crore. Moreover, the airline has ordered new aircraft worth Rs44,000 crore from Airbus SAS and Boeing Co.