Up to 600 job cuts are planned at Virgin Atlantic amid a “bleak” outlook for the airline industry.

The airline, which has juts marked its 25^th anniversary, is trimming winter capacity by seven per cent year-on-year.

Daily flights to Chicago from Heathrow will be suspended for the winter and one of two daily services to Hong Kong from the London hub will also be dropped.

Frequency on other unspecified routes will also be reduced over the winter 2009-10 period.

“As a result of the lower demand, the airline will need to reduce staff numbers and will shortly start consultations with staff about the possibility of up to 600 redundancies across the business,” the airline confirmed.
 

“We are keeping our staff fully informed and will be working closely with staff and union representatives in order to find ways to protect as many jobs as possible and avoid compulsory redundancies.”

Chief executive Steve Ridgway said: "The outlook for the industry is as bleak as ever and all airlines are having to shrink their businesses.

“The fittest will survive and be in a stronger position when the economy grows.

“We will look to minimize the number of compulsory redundancies and ensure we treat our staff as fairly as possible.

”Virgin's planned cuts follow rival British Airways negotiating redundancies and calling on staff to take temporary pay freezes. 

by Phil Davies