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Jetstar Asia to cut 26% of its workforce in Singapore to stay afloat

Jetstar Asia to cut 26% of its workforce in Singapore to stay afloat
Jetstar Asia to cut 26% of its workforce in Singapore to stay afloat

Jetstar Asia, a Singapore based low cost airlines, has reportedly announced its plans to cut approximately 26% of its workforce in Singapore in July. The airline stated that the decision is difficult but necessary.

The job cuts of about 180 employees in all sections of the Jetstar Asia business would affect 26 percent of the company’s workforce, at a time where most of its employees are expected to remain furloughed until the end of 2020.

The announcement came on June 25th, 2020, as Qantas Group, who has a 49% stake in Jetstar Asia, unveiled its post coronavirus recovery plan. Qantas’ three year plan would involve various measures including decreasing the group’s pre-crisis workforce by a minimum of 6,000 employees throughout all job roles, ranging from corporate non-flying workers to baggage handlers.

The probable return of the company’s leased aircrafts and early retirement of a number of its planes also implies that approximately 220 pilots would need to be let go.   

Bara Pasupathi, Chief Executive Officer, Jetstar Asia stated that the single largest upset to the aviation sector caused due to the COVID-19 lockdown and travel ban has forced the company to take such tough decisions in order to stay agile and be true to its low-cost profile for customers.

Pasupathi further added that undoubtedly the travel sector would look completely different after the pandemic, so it is extremely important that the company changes and adapts to the situation. Changi and Singapore Airport still remain a strategic footprint for the Qantas Group and Jetstar Asia. The company looks forward to increasing its passenger numbers using innovation and by improving its customer experience over the coming years.  

Pasupathi thanked the Government of Singapore, as it worked decisively and swiftly to help the aviation industry from its budget measures that helped the company to mitigate the unforeseen situation to a certain degree.  

Jetstar Asia’s five Airbus A320 aircraft would be discontinued, which reduces the company’s total fleet count to 13 aircraft.

 

Source credit: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/budget-carrier-jetstar-asia-to-cut-a-quarter-of-its-mainly-singaporean-workforce

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Omkar Patwardhan

Omkar Patwardhan started his professional career in the hospitality industry. Having nurtured a deep-sated passion for words however, he found his way into content writing and now pens down articles for theresearchprocess.com and a few other websites, spanning the sectors of business, finance, and technology./