Despite appearing to mock the ongoing demise of British Airways, and the significant financial challenges ahead, Virgin Atlantic has today announced a total of 1200 job cuts in the short to medium term because of the UK recession. However, the fact that the job cuts have come at a time when the top three directors saw their incomes increase from £1.4 million year to £2 million year has caught the attention of many and angered a number of workers and unions.

The company has also announced plans to reduce capacity from late 2009 in a sign that the airline industry will not see a short-term bounce. This is an industry which is highly dependent upon the price of oil, which has been fluctuating of late, and has taken a big hit from the ongoing worldwide recession. Even though Virgin Atlantic has nowhere near the dependence upon business travellers that British Airways has, the company is still suffering from a reduction in high ticket and high premium customers.

Many people believe we will see a number of mergers in the short to medium term as the airline industry come to terms with short to medium term issues which need addressed as soon as possible.

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