Virgin Atlantic to Cut 600 Jobs

www.virgin-atlantic.com

It now seems, due to the economy, that Virgin Atlantic will be cutting up to 600 jobs. This announcement came just after it said that it also planed on slashing a lot of its long haul flights. The airline said that this is going to happen due to the sharp fall in demand on London Heathrow services.

The flights that Virgin Atlantic offers to Hong Kong from Heathrow will be changed from two daily flights to only one. This will be part of their new winter schedule. They carrier will also be cutting back on flights form London to Chicago by suspending them until further notice.

According to Virgin Atlantic, they will be cutting flights and routes by almost seven percent when compared to last year’s numbers. In a statement, Virgin Atlantic went on to say that, because of the lower demand, the carrier will have to reduce staff numbers. They also noted that they will be talking with their staff soon about possible cuts. They did say that they hope to seek out some voluntary redundancies first and work close with the unions and staff before making the cuts.

The Virgin Atlantic CEO, Steve Ridgway, said that the outlook for the whole industry looks bad, but not just for Virgin Atlantic. He noted that only the strong airlines would make it through the economic downturn. He also noted that Virgin Atlantic was going to work very closely with its staff to make everything as fair as possible.

These cuts come just days after the Virgin Atlantic president, Sir Richard Branson, labeled British Airways as being worthless.

For more information visit: www.virgin-atlantic.com