LONDON, England: As it struggles to recover from flight delays and cancellations that have marred the airline's recovery from the Covid lockdown, British Airways (BA) said it has shaken up its senior management, with new managers taking responsibility for customer services, operations and Information Technology.

British Airways' return to profitability has been stunted by chaos in recent weeks, which forced it to reduce its schedule of flights until the end of summer to avoid more flight disruptions.

British Airways has also been struck by staff shortages, particularly in baggage handling and other ground operations, as have other airlines, but its IT issues, including major system outages that left thousands of passengers stranded, have solely affected the airline.

According to the Financial Times, which first reported the changes, Anthony Allcock, chief information and digital officer, will be replaced by Dirk John, while Calum Laming will be the new chief customer officer, replacing Tom Stevens.

The role of chief operating officer will be split in two, with incumbent Jason Mahoney becoming chief technical officer, while a new staff member will take over day-to-day operations.

"We are navigating an extremely challenging period as we rebuild following the global pandemic, and therefore, we have created four new roles on our leadership team," a BA spokesman said.

"Everyone at British Airways is completely focused on three priorities: our customers, supportingthe biggest recruitment drive in our history and increasing ouroperational resilience to deliver the best possible experience for our customers," he added.

Last week, IAG, British Airways' parent company, said to reduce cancellations and delays it was cutting capacity on the airline's summer schedule by 5 percent.

Chief executive Luis Gallego said the cost caused by the disruptions was the main reason why first-quarter operating losses were €754 million, which were higher than analyst predictions of €510 million.