Redundancies continue to plague all sectors of the travel industry as Hertz, Sabre and Gulliver’s Travel Associates are to cut jobs.
A record number of redundancies has pushed unemployment in the UK to 1.92 million. Since September 2008, when XL Leisure Group failed, Travel Weekly has reported close to 5,000 redundancies and consultations in the travel sector.
Wholesale supplier GTA is rumoured to be considering up to 100 redundancies but refused to confirm any job losses. In a statement it admitted: “The company is taking proposed actions in response to the economic climate. Due to the nature of the proposals and consultation no further comments can be given at this time.”
Car rental company Hertz announced it would cut 4,000 jobs worldwide this week, citing a slowdown in demand. It said the cuts would affect all regions including the UK.
Technology supplier Sabre has also made redundancies as it moves to “ensure the long–term health of the business”. Bosses would not confirm the number of job losses, but employees said it was about500 across Travelocity and other departments.
Delta Air Lines, which took over rival Northwest Airlines last year, said it expects about 2,000 staff to opt for an early retirement programme as it aims to shrink capacity as much as 8% this year.
In the cruise industry, workers at the STX Europe shipyard in Turku, Finland could face lay-offs.Workers are now finishing the two Oasis-class ships for Royal Caribbean International, but the 900 workers and 100 office personnel could faceredundancy once the work is complete.
Travel 2 marketing director Alasdair Farrimond said a consultation period is still ongoing over a potential 20 to 100 redundancies at its Glasgow call centre.
TSSA senior regional organiser Rick Justham said: “This has the potential to be the worst recession in living memory. Clearly, as travel is a leisure activity it will be hit particularly hard.”