Icelandair will lay off 240 employees and temporarily reduce the working hours of 92% of its remaining staff, RÚV reports. The measures are intended to increase the company’s ability to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total number of full-time positions at Icelandair Group averaged 4,715 in 2019. The wages of those employees who remain in full-time work will be reduced by 20%. The company’s executives will receive a 25% pay cut and the CEO and board members will receive a 30% pay cut during this time.
The company has temporarily closed several of the hotels in its nation-wide chain, both in Reykjavík and in the countryside, in response to a sharp reduction in the number of guests. Hilton Reykjavík Nordica, which is part of the chain, remains open. A staff member at the chain’s Mývatn location was diagnosed with COVID-19, leading to that hotel’s closure.
Icelandair stated that the company had recently explored all possibilities to reduce its outflow of capital, such as renegotiating agreements with suppliers and financers.
