Ryanair cuts 250 jobs at UK and Europe offices after coronavirus slashed flights
RYANAIR has today announced it's cutting 250 jobs at UK and Europe offices after coronavirus forced it to slash flights.
It comes as the airline said it's planning to restore 40 per cent of flights in July.
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The job cuts are a combination of probation and fixed term contract ends, resignations and redundancies.
Affected staff members are based at Ryanair's offices in Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw, Poland.
Ryanair said these workers won't be required to return to work when it reopens its offices on June 1.
The airline expects to operate less than 1 per cent of its normal flight schedules during April, May and June due to the pandemic.
How coronavirus has crippled the travel industry
HERE'S how coronavirus has hit major travel operators:
- British Airways has suspended all routes from London Gatwick and London City airports, and has moved all operations into terminal 5 at London Heathrow.
The airline is currently operating just one in ten of its usual flights.
On April 28, BA’s parent company IAG said it was preparing to cut 12,000 jobs from the airline’s 42,000-strong workforce.
Reports on April 30 suggest a quarter of pilot roles could be included in this number. - easyJet has grounded its entire fleet of 330 aircraft and cancelled all flights.
The airline hasn’t said when it will start flying again but its staff are currently being given a two-month leave of absence, meaning the measures will last at least until June. - Flybe collapsed into administration on March 5.
The airline had been losing money for several months, with it narrowly avoiding going under in January 2020, but coronavirus was understood to have had a severe impact on bookings. - Jet2 has cancelled all flights and holiday packages until June 17.
The airline is expected to start flying again from the middle of June.
However, this could change depending on the lockdown situation. - Ryanair has grounded 99 per cent of its fleet due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Remaining flights are operating on an emergency schedule only for passengers trying to return to the UK.
The airline announced in May that it could cut 3,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. - TUI has suspended all package holidays and cruises due to the crisis.
All trips have been cancelled until June 11, while Marella Cruise holidays won't resume until July.
The dates could be extended again depending on government advice. - Virgin Atlantic has suspended all flights, with no word on when it'll start flying again.
Virgin Group owner Richard Branson has asked the government for a bailout to keep the airline going.
It follows the fall of Virgin Australia into administration after being refused a bailout from the Australian government. - Wizz Air had grounded the majority of its flights, with limited routes to Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland.
However, the airline has today resumed some routes from London Luton Airport.
Destinations include Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain and Israel.
For the full year ending March 2021, Ryanair now expects to carry less than 100million passengers - over 35 per cent lower than the target of more than 155million people.
The announcement comes as Ryanair said earlier in May that it'll cut 3,000 jobs from July 2020 as part of a mass restructuring plan.
The airline declined to confirm whether the 250 headquarter roles are included in that plan, and how many affected workers are based at each office when contacted by The Sun.
When Ryanair does return to the skies, it said passengers can expect to see "significant price discounting" for its fares.
Future travellers may also be forced to wear face masks on flights as part of new plans expected to hit the entire travel industry.
Passengers could also be subject to temperature checks at airports to make sure they're well enough to fly.
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Michael O'Leary, boss of the budget carrier, has previously warned the low-budget carrier won’t, however, fly if it is required to keep the middle seat empty.
Meanwhile, passengers with cancelled trips have been told they could wait up to six months to get cash refunds.
Ryanair's people director Darrell Hughes said: "This is a very painful time for Ryanair, our crews and our people supporting operations from our Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw offices.
"While we expect to re-open our offices from 1 June next, we will not require the same number of support team members in a year when we will carry less than 100m passengers, against an original budget of 155m.
"Regrettably, we will now have a small number of compulsory redundancies in Dublin, Stansted, Madrid and Wroclaw to right size our support teams.
"These job losses were communicated to individual team members this week, and they will not be returning to work in our Dublin, Stansted, Madrid or Wroclaw offices when they reopen."
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Brits have been forced to cancel and reschedule their holidays amid the coronavirus pandemic, sparking misery and job cuts across the whole of the travel industry.
British Airways announced in April that it was cutting a quarter of pilot roles as part of plans to make 12,000 workers redundant.
The health crisis has also seen travellers warned that airports across the UK are at risk of closing for good due to 90 per cent of flights being grounded.