Financial Times 2nd July 2009
Virgin Atlantic to cut 600 jobs
By Kevin Done
Published: July 2 2009 00:33 | Last updated: July 2 2009 00:33
Virgin Atlantic, the UK long-haul airline controlled by Sir Richard Branson, is cutting capacity by 7 per cent in the coming winter season and is planning to axe about 600 jobs, or close to 8 per cent of the workforce.
Steve Ridgway, chief executive, said: “The outlook for the industry is as bleak as ever and all airlines are having to shrink their businesses. The fittest will survive and be in a stronger position when the economy grows.”
He said the group would seek to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies.
The latest contraction in the operations follows the elimination of another 600 jobs announced last February together with a pay freeze from last March.
In total, Virgin Atlantic, which is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines, has announced plans to reduce its previous workforce of 8,400 by more than 14 per cent.
The airline said it was planning to suspend its daily London Heathrow/Chicago service in the coming five-month winter season from the end of October and would reduce its twice-daily Heathrow/Hong Kong service to a single daily flight.
The UK carrier has previously indicated its financial performance was expected to deteriorate significantly in the current financial year to the end of February 2010.