Yes, it is true that the airline is to be rebranded again! In the last couple of years Britannia was rebranded as Thomson.co.uk (operated by Britannia), then the full Thomsonfly name was adopted and now TUIfly!
Flight seats for all TUI airlines across Europe will all be sold through the tuifly web page and unfortunately they will all be branded in that awful yellow colour (looks a bit too similar to DHL livery if you ask me). Apparently they have chosen the yellow due to the fact that HLX is well recognised brand in Germany. Promotion of the new name will start in Jan 2007, but full roll out in 2008. The new aircraft will be delivered from 2010.
As far as the redundancies are concerned, its all back office staff. 900 of the 2600 have already gone (due to closure of Glasgow call centre, recruitment freezes etc), another 900 to go in the consulation period and a further 800 by 2008. Pilots, cabin crew and shop staff are not in scope for the first 90 day consultation period.