EasyJet Switzerland eventually quit issuing layoffs as part of its size reduction at Basel-Mulhouse Airport, announced eight months earlier. Thus interactions with social partners have flourished.

The workforce has been reduced from about forty full-time equivalents (FTE) to still representing about a thousand positions.

The use of forced departures was avoided by adjusting the percentage of work time and transferring a handful of crew members from Basel to Geneva. “23 pilot positions and 45 cabin crew positions that were at risk, thanks to these measures being fully protected”, said by telephone to Jean-Marc Thevenaz, general manager of AWP.

The Swiss representation of the British low-cost carrier had in fact kept the fate of seventy jobs in consultation with staff representatives in early October, threatening to withdraw two of its twelve aircraft parked on the Rhine Tarmac. The Geneva base and its fifteen aircraft were unrelated.

The company – which continues to resort to short-term work – is pleased to maintain both the flexibility required in the period of the epidemic and the possibility of adjusting the level of activity in the form of travel restrictions.

Easyjet employs about 1,000 people in Switzerland, including 560 on the outskirts of the city of Calvin and 420 at Bale-Mulhouse Airport.

The EasyJet Switzerland Pilots Association (ESPA) emphasizes that the mechanism that authorizes employers to reduce the pilots’ activity rates to a pre-determined limit in order to bring them back to their previous levels in the event of standardization Could, in turn, indicate the absence of redundancy. Extensive solidarity between pilots.

Low visibility ___

However, the timetable for such normalization of European traffic across the skies of the old continent is unclear.

“At the moment, we are still in the recovery phase, but visibility has been reduced due to the huge impact of travel restrictions on demand and the wind demand created by even the slightest lack of these measures,” Mr Thevenaz explained.

The objective at this level is to gradually gain power in June, subject to political and health system changes, reaching 90% of initial production in July and August.

“We are especially waiting to see how the Swiss Kovid certificate will align with the European certificate, as it is very important that we have compatibility on this device”, recalled the person in charge.

“We are very concerned about the impact of the carbon tax on our activity if it is passed,” Mr. Thevenaz said.

On the capacity front, a second Swiss carrier is still awaiting delivery between the end of the autumn and the year of the five Airbus A320neos. “The purpose of these aircraft is to replace the older aircraft, but we maintain a lot of flexibility to increase our capacity according to demand,” Mr. Thevenaz explained.

road ahead ___

The result of negotiations between EasyJet Switzerland and its staff representatives resonates as a ring of hope for the Swiss. The White Cross Company is negotiating a truly painful restructuring plan, providing for the elimination of 1,700 full-time counterparts, representing 20% ​​of the workforce identified in 2019.

For 780 of these employees, employing 650 full-time counterparts, Lufthansa’s subsidiary is not out of pledge to pronounce redundancy. The Swiss fleet should be reduced to 85 aircraft by 15%.

This new aspect of the reorganization created outrage in the trade union and political world, which is particularly feared that the national company is cutting its wings at the dawn of the resumption of air traffic.

This article was published automatically. Source: ats / awp