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600 face the axe at Virgin Atlantic
12.02.09
Virgin Atlantic is to cut up to 600 of its 8500-strong workforce.
The airline said it hopes to keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum. It added that it does not yet know how many jobs will go in the UK.
"No airline is immune from the recession," chief executive Steve Ridgway said.
Virgin's move caps a brutal day for the aviation industry, with aircraft engineering contractor SR Technics slashing 1100 jobs and closing its Dublin operations. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier Ryanair is axing 200 pilots, cabin crew and other staff at Dublin after the number of passengers using the airport dived.
Reader views (1)
I flew on Virgin Atlantic in December and would say that the airline needs to recruit more staff instead of making people redundant. The standard of service in the cabin was poor to say the least as the crew just could not cope.It is very short sighted to reduce service levels - passengers do notice such things and will vote with their feet.
- Simon Ellis, London
