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| - Spain's Air Europa is to implement a series of temporary cutbacks in the coming months following flight cancellations over the coronavirus crisis, union sources told AFP Thursday. The airline, which counts more than 3,800 staff, said it was not prepared to comment on the matter but "didn't deny" the information provided by unions. "Today, workers' representatives met with the management of Air Europa. The company has officially announced it is going to implement.. a plan for the temporary suspension of jobs for several months," Francisco Borja, spokesman for the USO union, told AFP. The plan, the scope of which remains unclear, would involve the temporary suspension of employees or a reduction in their working hours. "It's likely to be in April, May and June with the situation returning to normal over the summer," he said. "Not all departments will be affected in the same way... (and) we still don't know how many people will be affected," he said, indicating such matters would be negotiated next week. The airline had already cancelled its daily flights to Italy and on Thursday was forced to axe flights to Miami and New York after US President Donald Trump suspended all incoming air travel from Europe for 30 days in an "aggressive" effort to halt the spread of the virus. Air Europa has also seen "many cancellations" of flights to Israel, he said. Last week, the Jewish state tightened its regulations for incoming passengers from Spain and a host of other European countries, saying they must undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine. In November, British Airways owner IAG said it had signed a $1.2 billion deal to buy the airline from Spanish tourism giant Globalia to boost its long-haul routes to Latin America and cement Madrid airport's status as a top aviation player. In 2018, the airline transported 11.8 million passengers on its 66-strong fleet. lbx-hmw/jh
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