Sri Lanka's national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, has decided to shed more than 1,500 jobs following the loss of half its fleet in last week's devastating Tamil Tiger attack on Colombo airport.
The job losses come in the wake of sharply
increased air fares, which rose after the attack to meet high-risk insurance cover for all aircraft flying to Sri Lanka.
Fares between Sri Lanka and Europe have gone up by 10% and airlines have also
scrapped all cut-rate tickets, making the real increase in economy class tickets as high as 80%. Correspondents say the price rises are likely to hit the tourist industry hard.
SriLankan Airlines had already announced a
voluntary retirement scheme even before the rebels staged their dawn raid on Bandaranaike International airport. But what should have been a slow retrenchment process was speeded up when the Tigers completely destroyed three passenger jet liners and damaged three more parked at the airport.
Golden handshake:
On Tuesday, 711 employees were asked to quit.
The golden handshake is now being offered to
another 1,000 employees to reduce the airline's staff strength to about 3,000
personnel.Unlike in the first round, this time pilots will be among those asked to leave. SriLankan Airlines employs 195 pilots, of whom 78 are foreign nationals. The expatriate pilots will be the first to be
asked to leave and will receive three months'
notice, airline officials said. Human resources manager Sunil Dissanayake said they were hoping to arrange employment
for the laid-off pilots with other airlines,
especially their equity partner, Emirates airline of Dubai.
Travel warnings:
SriLankan Airlines has been left with just six aircraft. But Chief Executive Officer Peter Hill said on Friday that there are no plans to replace the lost aircraft because passenger traffic to Sri Lanka is expected to fall following the attack. The raid brought travel warnings from the UK,Germany, Italy, Holland and the US, which together account for half of the 400,000 tourists who visited Sri Lanka last year.
The decline could be the industry's sharpest
since the ethnic war erupted 18 years ago and
there are fears that it will drive many smaller companies to bankruptcy.
Flights suspended:
Higher security risks have prompted airlines to withdraw all cut-rate excursion fares to Sri Lanka. Cathay Pacific airlines of Hong Kong has indefinitely suspended all flights there.Even before the rebel attack SriLankan Airlines was struggling under heavy debt and financial trouble. The company lost 750.41m rupees ($10m) in the financial year ending in March 2000 and the losses for the current year are expected to be even higher.