Austrian Airlines, the struggling carrier recently taken over by Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said Friday it planned to cut up to 500 more jobs than previously planned to boost its performance.
The hard-hit airline announced in July it planned to eliminate about 1,000 jobs by mid-2010. That number has now been increased by several hundred in an effort to reduce the company's workforce to roughly 6,000 by the end of next year, said spokesman Michael Braun.
"We see more potential for savings," Braun said, adding that the cuts were sparked by unfavorable market conditions that have hit the global airline industry.
Braun declined to specify who would be affected by the additional job losses, saying they would likely be felt "across the board."
In a further effort to cut costs, Braun said Austrian was in touch with suppliers to negotiate lower prices for the services or products they provide. Agreements have already been reached with the caterer Do&Co and Vienna's airport, he said.
Peter Malanik, a member of Austrian's executive board, defended the pending dismissals.
"We just constantly and consistently have to keep our costs in check," Malanik told Austrian radio, adding money saving measures would stay in place until the airline becomes profitable.
Earlier this month, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa's chief executive, appeared optimistic that Austrian could stop seeing losses as early as next year.
"AUA doesn't have a product problem, it has a cost problem," Mayrhuber told reporters on Sept. 3 after the takeover deal was formally sealed at Vienna's airport.
In 2008, 10.7 million passengers flew with the Austrian Airlines Group to 120 different destinations. Austrian Airlines currently operates a fleet of 91 aircraft.
____
On the Net:
http://www.aua.com
