Air Berlin is to axe about 900 jobs in the next two years as the airline looks to cut costs and improve its financial performance.
The carrier wants to save around €400 million by the end of 2014 as part of its “Turbine” programme to turnaround its business.
The job cuts will reduce Air Berlin’s staff by around 10 per cent from its current level of around 9,300 employees. Air Berlin is Germany’s second largest carrier, behind Lufthansa, with annual passenger numbers of 33 million last year.
Air Berlin said in a statement: “Meetings with staff representatives to discuss the turnaround programme and the planned personnel measures have already begun.
“Air Berlin's management will be implementing “Turbine” in conjunction with employees and on the basis of a constructive dialogue with the employee representatives and will be giving these discussions top priority over the next few months.
“The programme covers all areas of operation and relationships with business partners as well. It also involves cutting about 900 jobs in which the possibility of redundancies cannot be excluded.”
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has a 29 per cent stake in Air Berlin and last week former Bmi boss Wolfgang Prock-Schauer was appointed as the German carrier’s new CEO.
Air Berlin said that it would be expanding long-haul services from its hubs at Berlin and Dusseldorf while Vienna, Hamburg, Munich, Zurich and Stuttgart will “retain their function as principal stations within the Air Berlin route network”.
Other moves include reducing its fleet from its current level of 158 aircraft to 142 over the next two years.
airberlin.com