Finnair said it has started negotiations with employee
representatives on its plan to cut up to 1,000 jobs and implement additional
temporary layoffs due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In total, the airline said the negotiations concern around
2,800 of its 6,200 Finland-based employees, almost all of whom have been
temporarily laid off for a part of the spring and summer. The company plans to
continue these layoffs for “practically all its personnel in Finland” for either
fixed term or indefinite periods.
Finnair said the goal of the plan is to ensure that cabin
and flight deck crew can return to work gradually as passenger demand
increases. As such, the 1,000 redundancies will not affect flying personnel in
Finland, according to the airline.
CEO Topi Manner said: “Covid-19 is the deepest crisis of
aviation. The pandemic and the exceptionally tight travel restrictions in Finland
have impacted flight demand and we will operate only a small part of our
capacity compared to last year. A rapid return for the better in the pandemic
situation is unfortunately not in sight. Our revenue has decreased
considerably, and that is why we simply must adjust our costs to our new size.”
Finnair has reduced frequencies on its European network for
this month, citing low demand for stalling plans to ramp up capacity.
The news came as Finnair announced it has raised €200
million through a bond sale, which it said it will use to pay back an existing
bond that could become more expensive in the future. The airline has increased
its savings target from €80 million to €100 million.