Without Agreement with Union, LATAM Decides to Fire at Least 2,700 Employees
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Latin America’s largest airline, the Brazilian-Chilean group LATAM, announced on Friday the firing of at least 2,700 crew members to cope with the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the aviation sector.
The company said it had failed to reach an agreement with the aviation workers union to cut wages, which is why it will fire pilots and flight attendants to stay afloat.
The layoffs reach more than a third of the company’s total staff.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest public health crisis in history, and it dramatically affects the global aviation industry,” the airline said in a statement.
LATAM will offer a voluntary exit plan until Tuesday, and will then start firing people if the quota needs to be filled, he explained.
He added that the salaries offered by LATAM to its crew are above the region’s average, and that the “present crisis has made it more essential than ever” to reduce salary costs.
The company filed for bankruptcy in the United States last May, following the imposition of confinement measures and border closures worldwide to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
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