LATAM Airlines to lay off 1,200 Brazilian employees: report

LATAM lay off some 1,200 airport-based employees in Brazil and replace them with workers from a services company in an apparent cost-cutting measure, according to a report in O Estado de S. Paulo Wednesday. LATAM confirmed there would be redundancies but would not give an exact number. “The company has adopted measures so the change will have the least impact possible on workers,” the airline said. “Still, there will be a reduction” in the number of employees. The union representing LATAM employees posted news of the layoffs its website Wednesday, saying employee terminations would become effective next week. Those affected work in the international airports of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the company said, including ground and baggage handling. They will be replaced by workers contracted from Orbital - WFS, a company specialized in providing airport operations services for airlines.<br/>LATAM said this move was “in line with the national market and is part of a worldwide trend.”<br/>