British Airways, which has seen profits cut by terrorism fears and wildcat strikes, plans to slash another 500 million pounds (715 million euros, 900 million dollars) a year from its costs, it was reported on Sunday.
The beleaguered British flag carrier, which was forced this week to cancel two flights to Washington and one to Saudi Arabia after government warnings about possible terror attacks, will also cut more jobs, the Sunday Telegraph said.
BA has already been battling a global aviation downturn with an aggressive programme of cost reduction, known as "Future Size and Shape".
This had so far achieved more than 700 million pounds a year in annual cost savings, with more than 11,000 jobs shed since mid-2001, against a final target of 13,000.
However the airline will this month present an even more drastic plan to staff and investors, the newspaper said, citing anonymous company executives.
The cuts, which will see further job losses among BA's 45,000 employees, are designed to reassure institutional investors that chief executive Rod Eddington is committed to further slimming down the carrier, the report said.
"It will be much less prescriptive than Future Size and Shape," a BA executive told the paper.
"What we are going to do is say to our staff: 'Here are our targets.'"
BA struggled its way to a modest 105-million-pound pre-tax profit in the third quarter of 2003, its latest results, despite a damaging wildcat strike by check in staff at London's Heathrow airport in July.
The walk-outs stranded thousands of angry passengers and, according to an estimate released by BA shortly afterwards, cost the airline around 30 to 40 million pounds.
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