Finnair begins consultations with cabin attendants on plans for subcontracted cabin crew on certain routes to achieve cost savings
9/24/2012 3:01 AM EST
Finnair Plc
Press release
Finnair begins consultations with cabin attendants on plans for subcontracted
cabin crew on certain routes to achieve cost savings
Finnair is starting consultations with its cabin attendants on the company’s
plans to use subcontracted cabin crew on its Barcelona and Madrid routes as
well as on charter flights to the Canary Islands. According to the plan, these
routes would be operated so that the cabin crew is based in Spain. In addition,
Finnair plans to make changes in the composition of cabin crew so that a part
of the crew on its New York route and on charter flights to Asia would be hired
locally, in a similar way as on Finnair’s scheduled Asian routes. If
implemented, these plans could result in a reduction of approximately 100 cabin
attendants from the Finnair workforce. The planned actions are a part of
Finnair’s 140 million euro savings program aimed at restoring Finnair’s
competitiveness and ensuring the company has a viable future.
The reductions would be implemented with temporary layoffs during 2013, and
possible redundancies would be implemented earliest in 2014, after the
protection from redundancies in the current collective labor agreement with
cabin attendants ends.
”Using local cabin crew on our Spanish routes would be a natural way to
decrease costs, “ explains Anssi Komulainen, SVP Customer Service. “On these
long routes, the crew has to stay overnight at the destination, which adds to
hotel and daily allowance costs, among others. By having the cabin crew based
in Spain on these routes, we could generate savings.”.
Finnair is also considering changes in the composition of cabin crew on certain
flights. “We have good experiences from using local staff on our Asian routes,
and a similar model is now being planned for our New York routes and for
charter flights to Asia,” says Komulainen.
Finnair has agreed with cabin attendants on actions aiming at savings, and
while these have slowed down the increase in costs, they have not resulted in
permanent savings in unit costs.
During the personnel negotiations, alternatives for generating savings and
reducing personnel impacts are discussed with employee representatives.
Finnair employs approximately 1700 cabin attendants in Finland, and
approximately 300 in China, Japan, Thailand, India, South Korea and Singapore.
Finnair announced on August 5, 2011 that it targets decreases in its annual
costs of 140 million euros by 2014. Finnair has already announced that it:
• has chosen Swissport as its partner for baggage and apron services
• is optimizing the size of its fleet in European air traffic, has discontinued
the leases of four Airbus 320 series aircraft, and subleased five Embraer 170
aircraft
• is sourcing engine and component services from SR Technics
• has entered into a partnership with LSG Sky Chefs Group on catering services
• seeks solutions to improve the profitability of its European traffic
• has improved its route planning and aircraft utilization
• is streamlining its support functions as well as marketing and distribution
activities
• has initiated numerous other savings measures throughout the company.
More information: Finnair Media Desk, tel +358 9 818 4020, comms(at)finnair.com