Virgin to axe 600 staff

Niche carrier slashes capacity

Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to slash long haul capacity and axe another 600 jobs.

The airline said it would seek to cut staff numbers as a result of falling demand on London Heathrow services.

Flights from Heathrow to Hong Kong will go from twice to once daily as part of the new winter schedule, and flights from London to Chicago will be suspended.

VA announced further cuts on other unconfirmed routes amounting to a 7% reduction in capacity year-on-year.

The airline said in a statement: "As a result of the lower demand, the airline will need to reduce staff numbers and will shortly start consultations with staff."

VA said it would seek out voluntary redundancies by working closely with staff and unions.

Steve Ridgway, VA's ceo, said: "The outlook for the industry is as bleak as ever and all airlines are having to shrink their businesses. The fittest will survive and be in a stronger position when the economy grows."

"We will look to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies and ensure we treat our staff as fairly as possible."

The announcement comes just days after Virgin president Sir Richard Branson labelled British Airways as worthless.

BA's ceo Willie Walsh is currently embroiled in a row with staff unions over redundancies. Arbitrators have today (July 2) been called in to settle the dispute (see ABTN BA talks go to arbitration).

Last month VA said it was "confident of future growth" after ordering ten new Airbus A330-300s to be used on new and existing routes.

Mr Ridgway said the order was a "strong signal that now is the time to invest, in order to help protect jobs and get the world's economy moving again."

A spokesperson for VA told ABTN the aircraft order and the latest capacity cuts were "completely separate".

She said the latest cuts addressed today's economic troubles while the aircraft, to be delivered from 2011, were in line with future growth.

In February VA said it would shed 600 jobs, or about 7% of its then 8,400-strong workforce (see ABTN News February 13).

The latest announcement will see VA's staff numbers cut by around 14% this year.

www.virginatlantic.com