Finnair plans to cut 100 cabin crew
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Finnair has announced plans to remove 100 flight attendants from its workforce, in a bid to cut costs.
The Helsinki-based national carrier is consulting with cabin crew on plans to sub-contract work on certain routes to and from Spain, in the same way it currently does on flights to the US and Asia. Finnair said the reductions would initially take the form of temporary layoffs during 2013, followed by possible redundancies in 2014.
“Using local cabin crew… would be a natural way to decrease costs,” said Anssi Komulainen, Finnair’s Senior Vice President of Customer Service. “On these long routes, the crew has to stay overnight at the destination, which adds to hotel and daily allowance costs, among others. By having the cabin crew based in Spain on these routes, we could generate savings.
“We have good experiences from using local staff on our Asian routes, and a similar model is now being planned for our New York routes and for charter flights to Asia,” he added.
The job cuts are part of a broader plan to reduce Finnair’s expenses by EUR140 million (US$182m).