Easyjet has announced plans to close three of its regional airport hubs amid plans to slash its workforce by almost a third.
The budget airline has today revealed it plans to close its regional hubs in Newcastle, London Stansted and London Southend, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
It has been reported that the move will result in 5,000 jobs losses – including more than 700 pilot roles – across the three sites, however, it said that the airports would remain part of easyJet’s route network.
The firm said that its market update from May 28 had outlined the need to reduce staff numbers by up to 30%, as well as optimise its network and bases as a result of the pandemic.
Now it has started a formal consultation with its employee representatives over proposals to potentially cease basing crew and aircraft at the three hubs.
It said: “Consultations with employee representatives including BALPA and Unite have commenced and we have informed all employees who could be directly affected by the base closure. We are fully committed to work closely with our employee representatives during these consultations and providing full support to our people during the coming period.
“Since the pandemic began, easyJet has taken decisive action to remove cost and non-critical expenditure from the business at every level to mitigate the impact however, in line with IATA projections, easyJet believes that the levels of market demand seen in 2019 are not likely to be reached again until 2023.
“We have also informed all employees who may be directly affected by these proposals and will be providing full support to our people during this difficult time.
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“We are fully committed to work closely with our employee representatives during these consultations with the aim of minimising job losses as far as possible.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet CEO, said: “These are very difficult proposals to put forward in what is an unprecedented and difficult time for the airline and the industry as a whole. We are focused on doing what is right for the company and its long term health and success so we can protect jobs going forward.
“Unfortunately the lower demand environment means we need fewer aircraft and have less opportunity for work for our people - we are committed to working constructively with our employee representatives across the network with the aim of minimising job losses as far as possible.
“These proposals are no reflection on our people at Stansted, Southend and Newcastle, who have all worked tirelessly and have been fully committed to providing great service for our customers.”
EasyJet currently has 163 aircraft in the 海角视频 at 11 airports, serving 546 routes and flying more than 52m passengers a year.
BALPA, the trade union representing its 海角视频-based pilots, said that 727 of their pilots are at risk of redundancy, equating to nearly one in three easyJet pilots in the 海角视频.
Brian Strutton, BALPA General Secretary, said: “We know that aviation is in the midst of the Covid crisis and we had been expecting easyJet to make an announcement of temporary measures to help the airline through to recovery.
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“But this seems an excessive over-reaction and easyJet won’t find a supply of pilots waiting to come back when the recovery takes place over the next two years.
“easyJet paid £174m out to shareholders, got agreements to furlough staff to protect cash, got £600m from the Government, has boasted of having £2.4bn in liquidity, and ticket sales are going through the roof so fast they cannot get pilots back off furlough quickly enough – so why the panic? It doesn’t add up. We are meeting easyJet today and we will be fighting to save every single job.
“This is more evidence that aviation in the 海角视频 is caught in a death spiral of despair and individual airlines are flailing around without direction. BALPA repeats its call for Government to step in, provide a strategy and back a moratorium on job losses while all stakeholders sort out an holistic way forward for the whole aviation sector.”