Oct. 10 (UPI) — Bankrupt Air Berlin will stop flights at the end of this month and is encouraging employees to find work elsewhere.
The airline told employees that flights operating under its code “will no longer be possible after October 28 at the latest.” It’s subsidiaries, Niki and LG Walter will continue flights.
Air Berlin officials are already in talks with labor leaders about letting go employees and have begun intensive negotiations for the sale of some aspects of its business with rivals like Lufthansa and EasyJet.
Nearly 8,600 employees will need to find work, and Air Berlin is encouraging employees to find new jobs on their own because any new buyers will likely “appoint new staff in the majority of case.”
The airline, set up in 1978 in West Berlin, went through a restructuring exercise in 2016 to deal with heavy losses.
Yet, Air Berlin confirmed that year they didn’t own any of their own fleet after they sold and leased back their aircrafts. They also cut their destinations in half from 140 to 70.
Air Berlin will join 31 other European airlines that have halted operations since 2013, including Britain’s Monarch airline which ceased operations last week.
