Restructuring at Bmibaby may cause huge job losses

Staff at low-cost airline Bmibaby are at risk of losing their jobs, as restructuring plans were announced this week. A total of 158 staff face the sack as 82 cabin crew and 54 pilots at Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester airports may be made redundant along with 22 manager and support workers. Bmibaby also announced that the number of aircraft in its fleet will be reduced from 17 to 12 as of 2010. However along with the cutbacks, the restructuring plans are set to lead to 10 new pilot positions and 15 cabin crew positions as well as new services on offer at East midlands Airport.

Bmibaby is one of the leading budget airlines in Europe but the job losses come after the worldwide recession has taken its toll on the aviation industry as a whole. Record losses are being recorded throughout the sector and Bmibaby are no exception, which has led to the shake up.

The carrier is in talks with union representatives and its staff members in a bid to reduce the amount of jobs that will have to be forsaken. Managing director Crawford Rix spoke about how the company is looking towards the future, and added that Bmibaby strives to keep its customers happy and satisfied, even when the company is experiencing hard financial times. He went on to say that they are confident that they have identified areas where the airline can save money and that the job cuts were an unfortunate but necessary step to get the finances of the company back on track.