Low fare airline EasyJet have been working on reducing the outgoings of the company and have decided that free in flight tea or coffee for the cabin crew is to be scrapped. Crews are now advised to take their own beverages on board with them. However they are still able to use the aircrafts hot water.

The move comes after the budget airline suffered a huge downfall at the end of last year, with a reported 45% fall in profits. EasyJet aren’t the only airline to have such a downfall, all of the industry was hit during the summer with the rising cost of fuel. This has meant that the airline is now trying to cut down on unprofitable items within the company.

A company spokesperson confirmed that the airline is cutting the free tea and coffee for the crew, ‘At a time when life is pretty difficult we have to tighten our belts and everybody has to make sacrifices.’

Unite, the union for the airline industry have condemned the decision saying that the low cost airline of ‘penny pinching’. Steve Turner, United national secretary for civil aviation said ‘Unite has rejected the proposal.’

British Airways, who is also looking for ways to save money to get thought the recession have been negotiating with Unite, one idea put forward was cutting back on holiday entitlements, which they rejected.