Job losses for 200 people at Finland’s biggest airline have been revealed. The job losses at Finnair are part of the airline’s new strategy that was revealed on the 7th of September, after the airline suffered due to the Russian – Ukraine war.
The closure of Russian airspace has limited Finnair from flying to its Asian destinations. The airline said that 120 of the job losses would be made in Finland. In a press release, the airline company said that “due to changes in Finnair’s operating environment, [it] will be operating with a smaller capacity than before the pandemic.” Finnair CEO, Topi Manner added that “in addition to other actions to restore Finnair’s profitability, we have to discuss measures that are, unfortunately, the most painful ones for our employees.”
The redundancy talks are set to begin for employees next Wednesday and will last for 6 weeks.
The airline has suffered in recent years particularly during the pandemic when it cut 700 jobs in 2020 due to fewer people using air travel. Finland has seen a slower recovery of post-pandemic travel compared to other countries in Europe. This is in part due to the strict travel restrictions the country faced during the pandemic.
Finnair has confirmed that employees will be given support if they lose their jobs. Currently in place, there is a social support programme called NEXT that was launched in 2020. The programme offers advice, support and training to those that have left the airline. The programme is in collaboration with different schools, government agencies and businesses with its sole aim of helping employees transition into a new job.
Finnair has updated its traffic plan for 2022/2023 since the announcement of job losses. Beginning on the 30th of October all flights between Krabi and Chicago will be cancelled, whilst direct flights from Stockholm Arlanda to New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bangkok and Phuket will be discontinued.
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