Philippine Airlines to cut up to 2,700 jobs due to pandemic impact

The retrenchment programme this quarter could cover up to 35% of its roughly 7,800 personnel, it added. PAL is running less than 15% of its normal number of daily flights eight months after the Philippine government imposed travel curbs.

Philippine Airlines Inc (PAL) said on Monday it is cutting up to a third of its workforce, or around 2,700 jobs, as the aviation sector continues to suffer from pandemic-driven travel curbs. The Southeast Asian nation's carriers, which halted operations in mid-March as President Rodrigo Duterte imposed one of the world's strictest and longest coronavirus lockdowns, are slowly ramping up operations.

"The collapse in travel demand and persistent travel restrictions on most global and domestic routes have made retrenchment inevitable," PAL said in a statement. The retrenchment programme this quarter could cover up to 35% of its roughly 7,800 personnel, it added.

PAL is running less than 15% of its normal number of daily flights eight months after the Philippine government imposed travel curbs. The loss-making carrier, partly owned by Japan's ANA Holdings Inc, lost roughly $1 billion in revenues in March to May when the company suspended its operations because of a travel ban.

The Philippines has 324,762 confirmed COVID-19 infections, the most in Southeast Asia.

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