Air Peace has sacked more than 70 pilots across its fleet types as the aviation sector continues to witness the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The airline said in a statement on Monday that the move was critical to sustaining its operations and surviving the times.
It said it had to take the “painful but rightful” decision in the face of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations and financial health.
Air Peace had more than 3,000 staff on its payroll before COVID-19 happened.
The airline said it also cut staff salaries by zero to 40 per cent based on grades.
The statement read: “This decision is inevitable under the circumstances we find ourselves. In order to protect the continuity of majority of the existing jobs and the possibility of creating new ones in future, the survival of the airline is of paramount importance. When everything comes back to normal those pilots affected today will have a place to come back to in future if they so wish.
“Anything short of what we have done may lead to the collapse of an airline as could be seen in some places worldwide during this period.
“Therefore, we decided to review the salaries being paid to all staff. The new salaries reflect zero to 40 per cent cut of the former salary depending on the salary grades of every staff.
“Even after the cuts, it was obvious for us to be able to sustain our operations and survive the times, some jobs must inevitably have to go.”
