Wizz Air to cut 1,000 jobs and reduce pay
Wizz Air Holdings
2,134.00p
16:35 23/04/24
Wizz Air is cutting 1,000 jobs and reducing wages after the Covid-19 crisis caused one-off exceptional losses of up to €80m or the budget airline.
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The FTSE 250 carrier said the job cuts covered 19% of its workforce and that it was also furloughing employees. For all of the current financial year, pay for pilots, cabin crew and office staff will be cut by an average of 14%. Chief Executive József Váradi, his fellow directors and senior officers will take a 22% pay cut.
The airline, which operates in central and eastern Europe, said it expected underlying net profit for the year to the end of March to be in line with recent guidance of €350m (£305m)-€355m. But €70m-€80m of hedging losses caused by the Covid-19 crisis will send statutory net profit down to between €270m and €280m.
Wizz said traffic fell by a third in March and that it was now operating at 3% of its pre-coronavirus capacity. Airlines have been hammered by travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic leaving many struggling to survive. Wizz said it was not in a position to give financial guidance for the current financial year.
The FTSE 250 company said it had a very strong balance sheet and that its €1.5bn of cash at the end of March was one of the strongest companies in the industry. Wizz said it was talking to suppliers about reducing rates and improving payment terms. It will return 32 older leased aircraft by March 2023 as contracts expire.
"Despite its best efforts, the company is taking the difficult step to make 1,000 positions redundant," Wizz said in a trading update. "We have taken various initiatives to protect the position of the Company in a controlled manner during the Covid-19 pandemic and are reviewing the competitiveness and allocation of the assets of the company."