Thomas Cook Fleet Reduction
Award self 6million shares, sack 400 people. Genius.
Thomas Cook 'To Cut Hundreds More Jobs'
Holiday firm Thomas Cook has confirmed it is wielding the axe again as it continues to turn its business around.
The company is planning to cut 430 jobs which it says will "enhance the financial performance of our UK airline, improving profitability and operational efficiency".
The people affected will include pilots and cabin crew whose futures were already threatened by a partnership deal with easyJet.
Thomas Cook started to shed posts and planes from its fleet last year as it battled to recover from a near-financial collapse that saw it eventually take a new £200m loan and extend its financial arrangements amid the slowdown in consumer spending.
Its statement said: "Through our constant review of customer requirements, including the additional flexibility of third party flying arrangements, such as the partnership recently announced with easyJet, we continue to offer our customers greater flexibility and choice, in keeping with the needs of today’s leisure traveller.
"To this end we are proposing to reduce the UK fleet from 35 to 31 aircraft, returning 4 planes to the lessors at the end of their lease term with the resultant cost saving. Our in-house airline will continue to serve all of our key routes and in the last year alone transported over 6.8 million passengers globally to their chosen destination.
"Regrettably these proposals, if implemented, will have an inevitable impact on our people and we have today entered a period of consultation with our employees, with the expectation that approximately 430 roles will be impacted.
Thomas Cook said it would work with the staff affected to support them.