Swiss is moving forward with significant cuts to its workforce and fleet as it prepares for an expected structural change to the the airline’s bread-and-butter business traffic. On Thursday, the Lufthansa Group carrier unveiled plans to slash its staff by 1,700 full-time equivalent employees and shrink its fleet of 90 aircraft by 15 planes in response to these structural changes. The cuts will see Swiss operate fewer frequencies in Europe and likely end some intercontinental routes as it recovers from the Covid-19 crisis, though it plans to retain its dual Geneva and Zurich hubs. “It has grown increasingly clear that our market is undergoing structural change, and that despite the actions which we were swift to take in response, a restructuring of our company now sadly seems unavoidable,” said Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx. The cuts come as European airlines prepare for some leisure travel recovery this summer. While it is as yet unclear how many countries in the bloc will reopen to travelers, carriers are gearing up to quickly add flights if Covid-19 restrictions are eased. <br/>
star
Panama’s Copa Airlines is banking on its advantageous geographical position and extensive network to smaller cities across the Americas and the Caribbean to eventually pull itself out of the coronavirus-driven slump. Speaking on the company’s Q1 earnings call on 6 May, CE Pedro Heilbron says, however, that the airline is currently seeing two diverging trends in the region 15 months after the coronavirus crisis struck the air transport industry. While the airline’s home country of Panama as well as the USA are experiencing a downward trend in infection rates, and fewer travel restrictions as a result, numerous countries in Latin America such as Argentina, Venezuela and Chile are experiencing a resurgence in infections, and new constraints to free movement. “It’s anyone’s guess when those restrictions will be lifted. Things will get better, we know that, but it’s very difficult to know if it’s going to happen in July or September or who knows,” Heilbron says. “In many cases those are new restrictions that were not in place at the end of last year.” The airline says its Q1 loss was $110.7m, compared to a profit of $74.3m in Q1 2021. But that’s an improvement over the $177.3m loss the airline reported in Q4 2020.<br/>
Taiwan’s two main carriers — China Airlines and EVA Air — were both loss-making in their first quarter earnings as revenue took a hit. In separate stock exchange disclosures, China Airlines narrowed its operating loss year on year, while compatriot EVA Air fell deeper in the red. For the quarter ended 31 March, China Airlines reported an operating loss of NT$469m ($16.8m). This compares to the NT$2.97b loss it posted during the same quarter in 2020. Revenue for the quarter fell 14.5% year on year to NT$27.8b, while expenses saw a 19% drop to NT$26.2b. The carrier was in the black for 2020, posting an operating profit of NT$2.18b, as a focus on cargo helped cushion a pandemic-driven decline in passenger revenue. As for EVA Air, it reported an operating loss of NT$1.76b for the quarter, widening the NT$445m loss it made last year. Revenue fell around 35% year on year to NT$19.7b, with expenses falling about 30% to NT$19.2b. In comparison, the carrier reported a full-year operating loss of NT$827m in 2020. <br/>