Austrian to reduce fleet and staffing levels

Austrian Airlines intends to make further cutbacks to its active fleet and headcount, and has warned that it will miss the earnings targets it outlined last year. The Lufthansa subsidiary says it will place a further two Airbus aircraft into long-term storage, reducing its fleet to just 58 jets until “at least” 2024-25, down from a pre-crisis level of around 80. Staff numbers will be reduced by 650 full-time positions by the end of 2023, on top of the 650 job cuts in the period to the start of March this year. Austrian notes this action “will not be achievable in all areas by means of natural attrition”, and is therefore exploring ways of using part-time work patterns to “reduce personnel capacity.” “Austrian Airlines will be completely different after the crisis,” states CE Alexis von Hoensbroech. “The company will be leaner, more digitalised and more modern, and reconnect Austria with the world with its long-haul hub”. The action is necessary because the Covid-19 crisis “is lasting significantly longer than expected, and the effects will be felt for several years”, he adds. “That is why we will not be able to achieve the earnings targets, which we defined last spring.”<br/>