Corrected: UPDATE 2-AirBaltic plans to cut up to 700 jobs (Oct. 5)

Deutsche Lufthansa AG

05/10/2026 13:38

Corrects story published on October 5 to clarify union leader's criticism of the layoffs announcement and part-time work proposal in bullet points 5 and 7
Oct 5 (Reuters) - Latvian airline airBaltic said on Monday it is preparing to cut about 500 to 700 jobs across its bases in Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn.
The carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York in September, aiming to complete a sweeping restructuring focused on cutting its mounting debt through capacity and fleet reductions
AirBaltic gained approval last month to access €140 million ($157 million) from a wider €350 million financing package.
CEO Erno Hilden told Reuters in September that the airline was in talks with labour unions over "an adjustment" to the workforce
New organisational structures for the rest of the company are expected to be defined by mid-October, airBaltic said, with the final number of layoffs potentially changing within the course of the process
Dace Kavasa, chairperson of the Latvian aviation union, told Reuters the announcement could be seen as "pure union ​busting" as the airline did not disclose the potential number of layoffs with unions before making it public
"We learned about 500 to 700 people, six minutes before they started an employee meeting where they presented this," Kavasa said, adding that any talks will only start on October 15
Unions have proposed staff to take 85% part-time work and are pushing towards offering 50%, Kavasa added
($1 = 0.8922 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro
Editing by Stine Jacobsen, David Goodman and Devika Syamnath)
((gianluca.lonostro@thomsonreuters.com))