Belgium's Brussels Airlines to cut 1,000 jobs citing negative impact of pandemic

Belgium's biggest carrier Brussels Airlines announced its plan to lay off 25 per cent of its workforce, slashing around 1000 jobs to keep the company afloat. The Lufthansa-owned airlines highlighted the “extremely negative impact” of the pandemic on the company’s financials, adding that “substantial and indispensable” measures were needed for the survival of the company.

The airlines said that the company is “structurally” tackling its cost structure for the recovery plan and also optimising its network, resulting in a fleet reduction of 30 per cent i.e. from 54 to 38 aircraft. The company has also asked for financial support from the Belgian government while it seeks the assistance of Lufthansa for the restructuring costs to overcome the crisis.

“As a socially responsible employer, Brussels Airlines will work together with its social partners to reduce the number of forced dismissals to an absolute minimum,” said Brussels Airlines in a statement.

Confident of the turnaround plan

The airlines expressed confidence in its recovery plan saying it will be able to safeguard 75 per cent of its workforce and return to a profitable way as soon as the demand gets restored to a new normal. Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Brussels Airlines, said that the unprecedented crisis has worsened company’s financials obliging the management to take substantial measures.

“The restructuring is urgently needed in order to survive the current crisis and to become structurally competitive in the future, Dieter Vranckx,” said the top executive in a statement.

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The company also unveiled the other measures of the turnaround plan which includes reduction of overhead, operational costs and the increase of operational efficiency, among others by improving productivity and further standardising the fleet. It said that the number of forced redundancies will be reduced to a maximum extent with the help of social partners.

“While the turnaround plan is indispensable to overcome the crisis, the ongoing discussions with both the Belgian government and Lufthansa remain essential,” the company added.

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(Image: Twitter / @FlyingBrussels)