Thomas Cook 'To Cut Hundreds More Jobs'

Holiday firm Thomas Cook has confirmed it is wielding the axe again as it continues to turn its business around.

The company is planning to cut 430 jobs which it says will "enhance the financial performance of our UK airline, improving profitability and operational efficiency".

The people affected will include pilots and cabin crew whose futures were already threatened by a partnership deal with easyJet.

Thomas Cook started to shed posts and planes from its fleet last year as it battled to recover from a near-financial collapse that saw it eventually take a new £200m loan and extend its financial arrangements amid the slowdown in consumer spending.

The Unite union, which represents 400 engineers and 1,000 cabin crew out of the 2,700-strong workforce, said it will begin talks on Wednesday in an attempt to save as many jobs as possible

"At present, details of the threatened job losses are sketchy - we are not even sure which airports that Thomas Cook flies from will be worst hit," Unite's regional officer, Helen Osgood, said

"This is shocking news to a loyal and hard-working staff at the holiday company. Their future at this time is our prime concern.

"Our talks with management will be at Thomas Cook's offices in Manchester, following a meeting of our reps."

Thomas Cook's statement said: "We are proposing to reduce the UK fleet from 35 to 31 aircraft, returning 4 planes to the lessors at the end of their lease term with the resultant cost saving.

"Our in-house airline will continue to serve all of our key routes and in the last year alone transported over 6.8 million passengers globally to their chosen destination.

"Regrettably these proposals, if implemented, will have an inevitable impact on our people and we have today entered a period of consultation with our employees, with the expectation that approximately 430 roles will be impacted."

The travel company said it would work with the staff affected to support them.