Finnair to cut thousands of jobs

Finnair is to start negotiating with its workforce to cut up to 1,000 jobs. The Finnish airline also wants to put more employees on a temporary contract due to the corona crisis. Finnair employs 6,700 people.

Flying personnel will not be fired. Finnair wants to maintain basic operations as much as possible so that cabin crew and pilots can return to work as soon as the market recovers.

Demand for airline tickets has collapsed due to the corona outbreak and the very strict Finnish travel restrictions. Finnair, which focusses on flights between Europe and Asia, currently only operates a fraction of the normal number of flights, mostly within Europe.

A rapid improvement of the situation is not in sight, according to Finnair. “Our revenues have fallen significantly, so we simply have to adjust our costs to our new size,” said CEO Topi Manner. Finnair wants to save a total of one hundred million euros.

The airline also announced on Tuesday that a six-month-old Airbus A350 has been sold to leasing company NBB. Finnair will lease the widebody aircraft back from NBB for a period of twelve years. The sale of the A350 immediately brings in “more than one hundred million euros”.