Gloom ahead warns BA chief

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington has told CNN of tougher times ahead for Europe's biggest airline.

Speaking on the day BA revealed a 97 percent fall in pre-tax profits in the second quarter, Eddington said the full impact of the September 11 suicide attacks had still to be felt by the industry.

"I have to say like all airline chief executives that we look forward to the next one, two, three and four months without any great confidence that we really know what's going to be happening in the marketplace during that period," he told CNN's Charles Hodson.

"The quarter's results that we've just announced cover effectively just 20 days post-September 11th.

"But we are now coming into the northern winter which is a start of a tougher trading time anyway and on top of that the full impact of the tragedies on September 11."

There could also be bad news on the jobs front, Eddington revealed.

"We are looking hard at what we need to do to our business over and above what we've already announced. We are clearly thinking about the size and shape of British Airways going forward.

"It may be necessary for us again to look at the number of people we employ and the sort of things we do," he said.

"If that is necessary we'll be working with the unions and our staff to move forward in a sensible way."

Eddington said that BA would need to meet the challenge of low-cost airlines.

"The no-frills players are clearly an important part of the aviation industry now, not only in Europe but also in places like North America and Australia.

"The full-service airlines like British Airways have to learn how to compete with them."

But Eddington said the troubles of smaller European airlines like Swissair and Sabena could create new opportunities for BA.

"Our first priority must be to ensure that our core business is sound and robust.

"But we recognise that there are some real opportunities in a consolidating Europe and we are determined to take them."