With a fundamental adjustment in its strategy, Finnair will cut up to 200 jobs globally and replace them with a route network that is more “geographically balanced” and connects Europe with Asia, India, the Middle East, and North America through its hub in Helsinki.
The struggling Finnish flag carrier intends to reduce expenses by as much as 15% in an effort to return to probability. When the plan was revealed earlier this month, chief executive Topi Manner issued a warning that recovery would “require deep change throughout the company.”
The airline has now disclosed that it may cut up to 200 management positions globally, while the majority of the layoffs would occur in Finland. Around 770 employees in Finland in executive, management, and undefined “expert” professions will be impacted by the negotiations.
Before the pandemic’s terrible consequences, Finnair had successfully established its brand by connecting Europe and Asia via the “short Northern route.
The COVID-19 travel restrictions had already done significant harm to that approach, but political tit-for-tat action to ban Finnish commercial aircraft from using its airspace rendered it utterly useless.
Flying via Helsinki, as compared to using any other European airline hub, can now take longer to travel from Europe to Asia or vice versa.
Pilots, cabin crew, and frontline employees were not included in the redundancy conversations, according to an airline representative. However, Finnair does intend to lower its capacity, and the airline stated that it would be talking to employees throughout the company about “changes in employment terms” in order to cut expenses.
