英伦广角 2009-08-02 英国航空亏钱了

（单词翻译）

Not long ago, BA was flying high and making millions, but the turbulent global economy has seen its profits plunge¹. And even the last three months gearing up to the lucrative² holiday season have failed to lift the downward trend.
"Unless this airline can very very quickly change and adapt to a market which may never be the same again, never be as strong as it was in 2006 and 2005. Then I'm afraid British Airways³' problems will continue."

British Airways is facing a number of difficulties. Demand for air travel is dropping during the recession. And the airline has been hit hard by a fall in premium⁴ passengers with first class and business bookings down 15%. BA's vast workforce⁵ of 40,000 has also added to the overheads. Wages alone cost a whopping 2.2 billion pounds. And rising fuel costs remain a problem as the price of oil hits a record high last year. In response, BA is taking action, scrapping⁶ meals on short-haul flights, cutting thousands of jobs and more controversially, asking staff to work for free this month. BA boss Willie Walsh did but relatively⁷ few followed his example. He also wants to renegotiate every employee's contract, something that could well cause strikes.  These are dark days for aviation, BA desperately⁸ needs to settle its staff dispute and streamline⁹ its operations if it's to limit the damage in the months ahead.