Flybe Cuts 500 Jobs In Further Cost Slash

Flybe has warned that it plans to axe another 500 jobs in the latest round of cost-cutting at the struggling regional airline business.

The Exeter-based carrier's new chief executive, Saad Hammad, will also review unprofitable routes and bases and improve aircraft and crew utilisation.

It currently employs around 2,700 people, with some 650 staff having left the business since last January.

Mr Hammad, who will appear on the Sky News business bulletin at 2.45pm, said: "We are going to shrink to grow. Without these proposed cuts we cannot be viable."

He said the job losses would be "almost exclusively in the UK" but he could not yet give details of which roles would go.

The measures are expected to save the airline £26m annually from next year, on top of previous initiatives to save £40m this year and £45m in 2014/15.

The company said: "This will require tough decisions to be taken over the coming months and, regrettably, this proposal may result in the loss of around 500 jobs spread across the business."

Consultation with trade union and staff association representatives on the proposals will start shortly.

The British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) said it was shocked by the announcement and called on the Government to play its part by reducing the impact of Air Passenger Duty.

Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan said: "This is a distressing day for the dedicated pilots who loyally serve Flybe and its passengers day in, day out, and we will be supporting them throughout this difficult redundancy process."

Unite union national officer Oliver Richardson added: "Cabin crew have already been through one major reorganisation at Flybe only recently and they will be angry that once again they are on the front line of more cuts."

The airline's half-year results today showed it grew passenger numbers by 5.6% to 4.3 million, while it returned to profit with a surplus of £13.8m.

Having joined Flybe in August, Mr Hammad said: "It was clear to me that the existing phase one and two cost savings were necessary, but we simply needed to do more and to do it immediately.

"The business needed action now and so today we are explaining our next phase which encompasses a review of everything we do and how we do it."

Mr Hammad's regime has already seen the departure of a raft of top executives.

After entering its recent period of turbulence, Flybe has focused on shoring up its core regional bases in Southampton, Manchester, Birmingham and the Channel Islands, selling its Gatwick Airport runway slots to easyJet for £20m.

Meanwhile, Gatwick Airport announced that it handled more than 3.11 million passengers in October - a 4.3% rise on the same month in 2012.

North Atlantic passenger numbers fell 10.5% last month but other long-haul traffic to and from the West Sussex airport was up 9.0%.

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