Icelandair Group, the mother company of airline Icelandair, is making extensive cutbacks because of operational difficulties, partly due to rising fuel prices. About 300 employees will receive a letter of resignation today or in the following days.
Icelandair Group will hold a meeting with its employees to discuss the situation tomorrow, Fréttabladid reports.
Icelandair has also decided to reduce flights to various destinations and may also cancel scheduled flights to some cities because of rising costs.
The airline has often reacted to seasonal fluctuations by laying off staff, but the lay-offs have rarely been as extensive as this year, only comparable to fall 2001 when international air travel collapsed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
This year, pilots, flight attendants as well as the employees of those companies that provide services for Icelandair airplanes at Keflavík International Airport will be hit hardest by Icelandair Group’s cutbacks.
