Virgin Atlantic to Cut 80% of Flights, Asks Employees to Take Unpaid Leave

By Matteo Castia

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. said Monday that it will reduce its flights schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic and governmental restrictions in response to that.

The airline--51% owned by Virgin Group and 49% by Delta Air Lines Inc.--said it will reduce the number of daily flights by 80% starting March 26, "prioritizing core routes based on customer demand." This entails parking around 75% of its fleet, with peaks of 85% in April, it added.

"The airline has seen several days of negative bookings, driven by a huge volume of cancellations as customers choose to stay at home," Virgin Atlantic said.

The company said that it will need to cut costs to limit damages. Specifically, the airline will ask its staff to take eight weeks of unpaid leave over the next three months, with the cost spread over six months' salary.

The request for unpaid leave comes together with a number of other measures which include offering severance packages and sabbatical periods, reducing pension contributions for one year, deferring salary increases, reducing sick pay leave, extending the executive team's salary cuts, halting recruitment, and limiting travel and training.

Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2020 10:29 ET (14:29 GMT)

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