Finnair may shed hundreds of jobs to cut losses

Finnish national carrier Finnair said Thursday that negotiations were underway with staff that could lead to the loss of 680 jobs. "Finnair plans to rationalise its administration and support functions, which could lead to a reduction of approximately 140 employees at this stage," the airline's chief executive Pekka Vauramo said in a statement, adding that a further 540 flight attendants may also be made redundant. "The measures are part of the savings programme started in 2011, which aims at breaking Finnair's loss-making cycle. The company still hopes that by achieving cost reductions in ongoing negotiations, the redundancies could be avoided for the most part." Vauramo added that the airline had been attempting to negotiate cut-backs "in personnel-related costs" since 2011 and that outsourcing cabin crew jobs would be a "secondary option" to make urgent savings. In February, Finnair announced it had already made savings of 200 million euros ($275 million) during 2013. The company said it still hoped to make further cut-backs through negotiations with personnel while still limiting job losses.   "We still hope to reach in the ongoing negotiations the kind of result that would allow us to continue flying with our current crew," the company said in a statement. At present the airline's pilots are not part of the negotiations. Finnair reported a 13.6-million-euro loss in the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to a 3.5-million-euro loss the previous year, and the company's turnover fell by 8.5 percent to 561 million euros. The company has been hit by the uncertain economic outlook in Europe and Asia, coupled with weak demand from its main markets. In 2013 the airline had 5,850 employees, down 13 percent compared to 2012.