Air France announces to shed over 7,500 jobs
Air France announced 7,500 job cuts after the coronavirus pandemic grounded most flights and darkened prospects for future air travel.
According to a press release issued by Air France, for three months, the airline’s activity and revenue fell by 95%, and at the height of the crisis, the airline was losing 15 million euros per day.
The country’s flagship airline said that it will cut about 6,560 of 41,000 jobs at Air France, while regional subsidiary Hop will lose a further 1,020 out of the 2,420 over a span of three years.
Emirates lays off highest number of workers amid COVID-19
Emirates slashes more workforce in second wave of job cuts
Moreover, a €7 billion state bailout was granted last month to rescue the airline, but this has since sparked anger as the talk of job cuts arose. They’re particularly angry that the French government didn’t require Air France to protect jobs when it won 7 billion euros ($8 billion) in state bailout funds in May.
Workers warned that the job cuts will ripple across the French economy, and said bailout funds should be used to rebuild the company instead of pushing people into unemployment.
In this way, even on the basis of ambitious recovery assumptions, Air France predicts that it will not see the same level of activity as in 2019 before 2024.
- – Air France, press release.
It is worth-mentioning here that some of the airlines around the world have filed for bankruptcy or sought bailouts to survive the near-shutdown in their activity.
Global airlines will suffer a record net loss of $84.3 billion this year, more than double the $31 bn in loss incurred during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for latest news and updates!
