Norwegian Air took the most severe step by an airline yet in the fight against the coronavirus, announcing today it was canceling 85 percent of its flights and temporarily laying off almost 90 percent of its workforce.
The carrier cited the staggering escalation of the virus and the stagnating demand of customers, in part due to the enforced travel restrictions by the Trump administration, which has banned flights from virtually every European country to the U.S. through mid-April.
"What our industry is now facing is unprecedented and critical as we are approaching a scenario where most of our airplanes will be temporarily grounded," said Norwegian Air CEO Jacob Schram. "Several governments in Europe have already said they will do everything they can to ensure that their airlines can continue to fly when society returns to normalcy. We appreciate that the authorities of Norway have communicated that they will implement all necessary measures to protect aviation in Norway, consequently securing crucial infrastructure and jobs."
As a result of most of the company's planes being parked, Norwegian is laying off more than 7,300 workers, including pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and administrative staff. The layoff procedures vary from country to country and Norwegian's team is already in constructive dialogues with union and HSE representatives at all its locations across the network.
"It is indeed with a heavy heart we have to temporarily lay off more than 7,300 of our colleagues, but we unfortunately have no choice," Schram said. "However, I want to emphasize that this is temporary, because when the world returns to normalcy my goal is to keep as many of our dedicated colleagues as possible."
Norwegian had already discontinued a significant number of its flights and the main priority this week is to maintain as many scheduled flights as possible to ensure that customers are able to immediately return to their home destinations. The company will also work closely with authorities to arrange flights for the benefit of stranded passengers.
Norwegian's route network changes including flying a reduced scheduled domestically in Norway and between the Nordic capitals starting March 21. Some European flights will be operated. All intercontinental flights are cancelled except flights between Scandinavia and Thailand.
The limited schedule will remain in place until at least April 17.
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