First Choice chief executive Peter Long is expected to be given a significant role in an enlarged group if Airtours’ bid for the operator is successful.
But other senior managers at First Choice, including Holidays and Flights managing director Dermot Blastland and Air 2000 managing directorKen Smith could be among redundancies, according to city analysts.
“Long has got a wealth of experience and would be an asset to Airtours, but he is probably only one of the few senior managers who would be kept,” said one analyst. “The only thing that would make Long’s position untenable would be if he came out publicly criticising Airtours over its bid.”
Airtours admitted in its offer document for First Choice that the takeover would involve a small number of redundancies. It stressed most would come from support functions.