Virgin Atlantic may axe 600 staff

[JulieSharp]

Just seen this not so good news

The airline said it was "currently consulting with staff about the possibility of up to 600 redundancies across the business".

Virgin went on: "We are keeping our staff fully informed and will be working closely with staff and union representatives in order to find ways to protect as many jobs as possible and avoid compulsory redundancies."

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway added: "No airline is immune from the recession and we continue to reshape our business to ensure we're in the best position for the longer term.

"With falling demand for travel, airlines have to reduce their costs through a variety of measures including cutting capacity, freezing pay, unpaid leave and, regrettably, adjusting staff numbers.

"We need to stay healthy so we're ready to grow again when economic conditions allow."

 

[jen_uk]

Thats not good

 

[Mermaid2sea]

Not a nice time....fingers crossed that there are none compulsory ones...

 

[Cyrano]

Sad to hear about anyone being made redundant

 

[natalielongstaff]

Will they be all uk based ?? they could sack the lot at the call centre....they are clueless

 

[barbarah]

I would second that. Keep the UK based staff and get rid of the overseas call centre that passes themselves off as customer service.

 

[MorningGlory]

The good thing (if it can be called that) is that they should be able to reach that figure easily through normal staff turnover, considering the size of the company. I'd be surprised if they had to start compulsory redundancies.

It was probably inevitable and I doubt that we, the customer, will notice any impact at all on the service they provide us.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

...through normal staff turnover...

Of course, if no-one else is hireing, there would be less staff turnover.

Andrew

 

[natalielongstaff]

Of course, if no-one else is hireing, there would be less staff turnover.

Andrew

its a bosses market at the moment not many people are changing jobs !

 

[MacUK]

I heard that it was the Upper Class passengers that are staying away or traveling Premium instead, not surprised considering the cost of a standard UC fare! This is were the money is made.

Maybe they will have some cheap UC upgrades? (fat chance!)

 

[poggs]

This will hardly if at all affect the Orlando route. Its performing well up on previous years and the premium cabins are showing high yields.

Its on the fast reducing USA routes from heathrow, such as Boston, Chicago and newark that the axe will fall. Expect to see some of these heathrow routes changed to caribean or Asian destinations later in the year. A lot of wealthy retirees want to fly upper to the caribbean but find it hard due to the small upper in the Gatwick planes. So a heathrow plane and its business attire, might suit them better
IMHO of course!

 

[MacUK]

Damn, I was hoping for an upgrade for £10!!!

Let's hope for the staff it doesn't come to this or the numbers are much lower than predicted.