Airlines and Air travel are the quickest hit in most form of the crises , and here we have an example that demonstrates , how vulnerable is 'Aviation industry' . Worst affected from these crises are the employees like pilots, cabin crews and ground staffs !
Surely , difficult times ahead for Finland’s flag carrier , at a time , when airlines around the world are trying to recover from Covid-19 pandemic & the new challenge of its very restricted Asia network, due to Russian Airspace closure.
From a range of 90 to 200 Finnair pilots and 150 to 450 cabin crews, and other employees may face Furloughs starting April , If Russia continues to ban the Airspace for the Finland operators , worst hit of which will be Finnair.
Airline had released a statement saying ,
"The estimated need for additional monthly furloughs for pilots ranges from 90 to 200 and for cabin crew from 150 to 450 employees starting from April."
Russian Airspace plays a significant role , when it comes to Finnair’s network connecting Passenger and cargo traffic between Asia and Europe , due to it's geographic location.
Picture Courtesy : Finnair
No wonder, during the Pre-pandemic operations, more than half of Finnair’s revenue came from this market , when Finnair could easily fly over Russia.
Following the closing of Russian airspace , Finnair has begun discussions with employee representatives on plans regarding possible furloughs.
Finnair's Chief Operations Officer Jaakko Schildt said,
"A large share of our staff has been on long furloughs during the pandemic, so the need for further furloughs feels especially harsh, and we are sorry for this."
Now, Finnair's more circuitous routes can add several hours to the flight time and higher ATF prices combined with the longer routes makes it difficult to break even.
Picture Courtesy : Alex zen
It's still very uncertain on the possibilities of using Russian Airspace again , though the company said it was also preparing an alternative network plan in case the current situation is prolonged.
Earlier , in a tit for tat strategy , Russia had barred Finnish aircraft from its airspace until May 28 after finland , along with other Nordic and Baltic countries , Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States , blocked Russian aircraft from their airspace.
