Icelandair has given notice to 16 pilots in addition to eight pilots last week. Nearly 200 Icelandair employees have lost their jobs since the beginning of 2008, but, according to the airline’s information officer, there will not be any more layoffs this year.
“It was caused by a certain development in tax regulations in Venezuela [on Friday, August 29], which completely changed the prerequisites of an aviation agreement we had there,” Icelandair’s information officer Gudjón Arngrímsson explained to Morgunbladid.
“The agreement was supposed to expire next spring but instead will be terminated this winter,” Arngrímsson added, referring to an agreement between Icelandair and Venezuelan airline Santa Bárbara on the operation of a Boeing 767 which was mainly used for flights between Madrid in Spain and Caracas in Venezuela.
Almost 300 pilots worked for Icelandair last winter but their number is now down to less than 200. So far this year, 112 Icelandair pilots have been given notice, 88 of whom lost their jobs in June 2008.
