EasyJet to cut 4,500 jobs and reduce capacity
EasyJet plans to cut up to 30% of its 15,000-strong workforce as it becomes the latest airline to warn that the aviation industry faces a slow recovery from the upheaval wrought by coronavirus. The low-cost carrier said it needed to axe about 4,500 jobs as it looks to reshape the business on the basis that passenger demand will not return to 2019 levels until 2023. EasyJet on Thursday also laid out plans to fly about 30% of its normal capacity across July, August and September, which means taking a more cautious approach than budget rivals Ryanair and Wizz Air. Ryanair this month confirmed plans to resume flights in July at about 40% of capacity, before ramping it up to about 60 to 70% by September. Wizz Air expects to run about 70% of its flights in July and August, subject to an easing of travel restrictions. It has already started flying about 10% of its capacity in May. EasyJet’s CE Johan Lundgren acknowledged that some other airlines were more optimistic of a recovery before 2023. “I think we have done it on a prudent, and we believe on a conservative but still realistic, basis. Truth of the matter, nobody knows. Nobody would be happier than ourselves if demand was picking up earlier than that,” he said. As well as cutting staff, easyJet said it was looking at closing bases at airports. The carrier said it would also reduce its aircraft fleet to about 302 planes by the end of 2021, which is 51 lower than what was anticipated before the pandemic struck.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-05-29/unaligned/easyjet-to-cut-4-500-jobs-and-reduce-capacity
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EasyJet to cut 4,500 jobs and reduce capacity
EasyJet plans to cut up to 30% of its 15,000-strong workforce as it becomes the latest airline to warn that the aviation industry faces a slow recovery from the upheaval wrought by coronavirus. The low-cost carrier said it needed to axe about 4,500 jobs as it looks to reshape the business on the basis that passenger demand will not return to 2019 levels until 2023. EasyJet on Thursday also laid out plans to fly about 30% of its normal capacity across July, August and September, which means taking a more cautious approach than budget rivals Ryanair and Wizz Air. Ryanair this month confirmed plans to resume flights in July at about 40% of capacity, before ramping it up to about 60 to 70% by September. Wizz Air expects to run about 70% of its flights in July and August, subject to an easing of travel restrictions. It has already started flying about 10% of its capacity in May. EasyJet’s CE Johan Lundgren acknowledged that some other airlines were more optimistic of a recovery before 2023. “I think we have done it on a prudent, and we believe on a conservative but still realistic, basis. Truth of the matter, nobody knows. Nobody would be happier than ourselves if demand was picking up earlier than that,” he said. As well as cutting staff, easyJet said it was looking at closing bases at airports. The carrier said it would also reduce its aircraft fleet to about 302 planes by the end of 2021, which is 51 lower than what was anticipated before the pandemic struck.<br/>
