Airline bmi Axes Jobs and Cheap Flights
Like many airlines during the recession, bmi is struggling to survive in the current climate and plans to axe 600 jobs to cut costs.
The job cuts are part of a wider initiative to save the airline money. The company is restructuring, reducing the number of planes and freezing flight routes which are not profitable.
From January, bmi will temporarily stop flights from Heathrow Airport to Brussels, Kiev and Tel Aviv. Flights from Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam will also be frozen temporarily in March of next year.
bmi operations, both international and regional, are being restricted: “against a background where the airline industry is facing the challenges of a downturn in demand and the worst recession in the UK since records began,” a bmi spokesperson told the BBC.
The airline spokesperson added: “Management has today commenced consultations with unions and staff representatives with a view to minimising the number of compulsory job losses wherever possible.”
The airline stated that the difficult economic climate and the knock-on effect of falling numbers of travellers had lead to the financial problems.
The need to restructure the airline was stated by the Lufthansa Group, which took over ownership of bmi in July.
Currently the second largest airline carrying holidaymakers and travellers to their destinations from Heathrow Airport, bmi has over 4,400 members of staff.
A bmi spokesman said: “The number of full-time equivalent jobs at risk of redundancy is expected to be approximately 600. However, further job cuts cannot be ruled out.”
The airline also stated it hopes to be able to bounce back “when the economic environment improves and the market demand justifies it”.
Travel Industry news posted by Don on 26 November 2009
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