Travel technology firm Sabre has announced it is
implementing a restructuring plan that could see around 800 jobs cut across 43
office locations as it focuses on recovering from the coronavirus crisis.
According to the company, the proposed redundancies come in
addition to the 400 positions that have already been cut through voluntary
severance and retirement programmes. The move is part of a wider plan to ‘realign’
the business and prepare it to remain successful as travel begins to return
around the world.
Despite the potential job cuts, Sabre is planning to end
staff furloughs on or before 6 July, at which point it will also restore
employee pay back to 100 per cent of their base rate, ending voluntary and
involuntary reductions that took effect in March and April. The company is also
adopting a flexible working programme that will enable employees to “work from
anywhere” to the extent of local laws.
In addition, Sabre is accelerating plans set in motion in
2018 to bring together its Travel Network, which includes its GDS business, and
Airline Solutions, which houses its airline IT business, under the Travel
Solutions organisation. Further details regarding the organisation’s leadership
team are due to be announced next month, when the new structure goes into
effect.
Sabre president and chief executive Sean Menke commented: “We
began this transformational journey over two years ago with the unveiling of
our SabreNext strategy and the creation of our Travel Solutions organisation.
Our leadership team has completed plans to strategically realign and fully
combine Sabre’s airline and agency-focused businesses to provide a stronger,
more seamless experience for our customers.
“Sabre is mission-critical to the travel ecosystem. While we
had to put certain initiatives and technology investments on hold in response to
the Covid-19 pandemic, we remain steadfast in our commitment to helping our
customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalised travel
experiences that benefit travellers, travel suppliers and agencies. This pandemic
has caused major shifts in the travel ecosystem resulting in the changing needs
of our airline, hotel and agency customers… Sabre’s new organisation is built
upon the premise that the retailing, distribution and fulfilment of travel will
continue to evolve over the next decade and each of these elements will become
even more interconnected and interdependent.”