British Airways is to put some of its renowned art collection up for sale in an attempt to raise cash as it prepares to lay off thousands of staff.
The airline has called in art valuers and is planning to auction off at least 10 major pieces, some valued at more than £1m.
BA’s art collection includes works by British artists including Damien Hirst, Peter Doig, Anish Kapoor, Chris Ofili and Tracey Emin. Some have been displayed at the firm’s Waterside headquarters near Heathrow, but many of the 1,500 artworks in the collection have been on the walls of its executive lounges.
However, with some analysts believing that the lucrative business travel market may never return to pre-crisis levels, lounges are likely to have more austere decor in future.
According to the Evening Standard, Sotheby’s has valued a number of works held by BA for a potential imminent sale, with one piece by Bridget Riley – described by some as a masterpiece – likely to leave BA’s Heathrow executive lounge and raise millions for the embattled airline.
The move comes as the majority of BA’s fleet remains grounded because of the coronavirus pandemic, with all of the aviation industry facing an uncertain future.
Álex Cruz, the airliner’s chief executive, had promised to “take every possible action to conserve cash” when BA notified unions it was planning redundancies. The minimum consultation period for up to 12,000 redundancies passes on 15 June, potentially allowing the airline to start shedding staff, although BA has said it does not expect to do so on that date.
British Airways did not comment on the art selloff, but a source said the airline was not ruling anything out to save money and jobs, and the idea is believed to have been taken up by management after asking staff where to find savings.
IAG, its owning group, recently said it was burning through cash at a rate of €30m (£26.7m) a day. Plans to restore many flights in July are currently under review while IAG attempts to overturn the government’s quarantine rules, introduced on Monday.
BA said: “We are acting now to protect as many jobs as possible. The airline industry is facing the deepest structural change in its history, as well as facing a severely weakened global economy.”
The Unite union, one of three representing BA workers, has disputed the need for mass redundancies. Len McCluskey, the general secretary, said: “The company is claiming to be in financial difficulties while BA’s Spanish parent company IAG is still planning to spend close to €1bn to buy another airline, Air Europa.”
