Jet2 in for a bumpy ride as they announce plans to lose over 100 pilots in bid to cut costs

According to Airline Union, Balpa, over 100 pilots will soon lose their jobs at Jet2 as the company suffers from the effects of the coronavirus on the travel industry.

THE airline said in a statement that the ongoing pandemic had caused it to “reassess and reduce” its flying programme for the rest of 2020 and for 2021.

“Sadly, the overall effect of these reductions has been the need to propose a number of colleague redundancies across our business,” a statement said.

“We cannot say how much we regret these proposed redundancies and we will be consulting with appropriate representatives of the affected colleagues in order to ensure that all options and issues are fully considered.”

Pilots’ union BALPA said Jet2.com has already informed members of plans to cut 102 pilot jobs. BALPA general secretary Brian Strutton said Jet2.com plays an “extremely important role” in the UK aviation sector and was hopeful of the airline’s survival amid the current industry turmoil.

“I hope Jet2 negotiates in good faith and works with us on how we can mitigate these proposed losses and see Jet2 thrive in the future,” he added.

Jet2 has bases at East Midlands Leeds/Bradford, Belfast International, Birmingham, Stansted, Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and is the latest airline to issue formal notice of redundancy and start a consultation process.