Stagnating demand and enforced travel restrictions by authorities worldwide due to COVID-19, has caused Norwegian to gradually cancel most of its flights and temporarily lay off a major share of its workforce.
“What our industry is now facing is unprecedented and critical as we are approaching a scenario where most of our airplanes will be temporarily grounded. Several governments in Europe have already said that they will do everything they can to ensure that their airlines can continue to fly when society returns to normalcy. We appreciate that the authorities of Norway have communicated that they will implement all necessary measures to protect aviation in Norway, consequently securing crucial infrastructure and jobs,” said CEO Jacob Schram of Norwegian.
As a result of most of the company’s planes being parked, Norwegian has to temporarily lay off more than 7,300 employees, which equates to approximately 90% of its workforce, which includes pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and administrative staff.
The layoff procedures vary from country to country and Norwegian’s team is already in constructive dialogues with union and HSE representatives at all its locations across the network.
