ONE HUNDRED and twenty-five people will today be leaving Cyprus Airways (CY) as part of the airline’s restructuring plan.
Another 225 redundancy notices were yesterday sent out, with two months’ notice given to employees from all departments across the airline.
CY spokesman Tassos Angelis said, “the people involved will all receive generous compensation packages.”
But in the simmering row within the airline, pilots union PASIPY on Monday hit out at CY management after yet another meeting to find a solution to the two sides’ different interpretations of what was agreed under the rescue plan to save the airline.
Last Tuesday, a meeting scheduled between the national carrier’s board and PASIPY was rescheduled after the pilots were kept waiting for over an hour.
The meeting finally went ahead on Monday, with PASIPY spokesman Tassos Christophides telling the Cyprus Mail that, “the aim was to talk about the restructuring plan and the agreement that we all came to together. Why then did the board decide to change their minds at the last minute and alter the agreement?”
He added that the board, along with the government, have a new proposal, which they would send to the union in writing in the next couple of days. “We will study it and then give our response,” he said.
“We are not happy, as we believe that they are playing a game with us and they just forget what they say. All they want to do is talk all the time and no conclusion is ever reached. The Board of Directors should be more flexible. They are lost and don’t know what they are doing with the company. We are frustrated and want the company to survive so we can carry on with our jobs.”
The row revolves around the details of a controversial rescue plan for CY that needs to be given the all clear by the EU before the airline gets a much-needed £58 million.
The plan envisages across-the-board salary and benefit cutbacks and massive redundancies.
Christophides also warned the board there would be consequences if reports it was studying the possibility of transferring one of its aircraft to Hellas Jet went ahead.
He said the board should take its thoughts no further otherwise the pilots’ reaction would be “forceful”.
The transfer of one of the airline’s planes to its loss-making Athens-based former subsidiary, Hellas Jet, was like a red flag to a bull, he said.
“Let’s not forget Hellas Jet is the company which had us by the throat. We lost £40 million… I don’t know why Hellas Jet has reappeared to the forefront when it has been sold on paper… Let us learn if it has been sold or not.”
