Type
Internal restructuring
Country
Finland
Region
Manner-Suomi;
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Transportation / Storage
Land, Water And Air Transportation
Air Transport
51 - Air transport

670 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
5 May 2006
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 December 2007

Description

The Finnish airline Finnair has closed its personnel negotiations which they initiated in May 2006. The final decision is to reduce a total of 670 jobs this year and in 2007. The focus of the cutbacks is to be on Finnair Technical Services and in corporate administration. Initially the aim is to reduce the 1,900 work force of Finnair Technical Services by about 300 employees. Finnair also calculated that it can reduce the company’s economic service staff and administrative personnel by about 100 through consolidation of work processes. The personnel negotiations in Finnair subsidiary companies (where the remaining 270 jobs will be lost) are still in progress.

Finnair hopes to achieve the bulk of its staff cuts through pension arrangements and by outsourcing operations. The airline calculates that it could save about EUR 80 million a year through the arrangements. The major reasons for personnel cuts attributed by the company’s leadership are the increased fuel costs, a need for lower ticket prices and a need to excess capacity in the field. According to them all airlines are trying to be more efficient to survive.

On the positive side, it has been noted that the world is in a strong economic upswing; Finnair flights are carrying more passengers than before, and bookings are high. The aim of the personnel cuts is to have a lighter hierarchy and to get more flexibility. Finnair has previously said that it would hire more than 350 new people for its increased flight operations between Europe and Asia -mainly as pilots, flight attendants, and customer service. If the growth targets for its Asian flights are realised, there could be 200 new jobs on an annual basis in the near future.


Sources

  • 28 June 2006: Kauppalehti
  • 6 May 2006: Helsingin Sanomat

Citation

Eurofound (2006), Finnair, Internal restructuring in Finland, factsheet number 63455, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/63455.