Czech Airlines face an uncertain future this week, amid reports that the carrier intends to lay off its entire workforce.
Daily newspaper Hospodarske Noviny reports that the airline has sent notice to the Labour Office of the Czech Republic of its intention to make all employees redundant.
The report quotes Tereza Loffelmanova, chairwoman of the Aircraft Crews, as stating that “I can confirm that we have received a notice of mass redundancies”.
There has been no confirmation of the move either from Czech Airlines or its owner Smartwings Group, and bookings for flights continue to be available at csa.cz.
The group is currently under a protective moratorium against creditors, which is due to expire at the end of February.
Skyteam member Czech Airlines is one of the oldest carriers in the world, having been formed in 1923.
Last month Smartwings Group announced an 84 per cent drop in traffic during 2020 across its Smartwings and Czech Airlines brands. Commenting on the figures at the time Roman Vik, board member and CEO, Smartwings, said:
“Early last year, Smartwings Group seemed to be heading for the best results in its history. Instead, it had to face an unexpected and unprecedented aviation industry crisis. A dramatic decline in demand caused by the extraordinary circumstances forced us to adopt severe austerity measures and take many radical steps.
“A key factor for a revival of travel is successful vaccination of the population. Our goal is to regain a position of a major player on the European aviation market and a competitive air carrier. We still believe we can make it, mainly thanks to our employees who have done extremely well during the crisis. Big thanks to them!”
