El Al extends unpaid leave of thousands of workers to June 30
About 6,000 employees of El Al and its subsidiaries are currently on unpaid leave.
By EYTAN HALONAn Israeli flag is seen on the first of Israel's El Al Airlines order of 16 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets, as it lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv(photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
El Al has extended the unpaid leave of thousands of employees until June 30, the airline informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Thursday, showing little optimism regarding the renewal of regular flights in the near future.About 6,000 employees of El Al and its subsidiaries are currently on unpaid leave. On Tuesday, the national flagcarrier said it would continue to ground all scheduled flights until May 30, with the exception of cargo flights and one-off services.The Israeli flagcarrier said the decision was based on new coronavirus--related measures announced by the Health Ministry earlier this week, which did not include lifting the requirement on self-quarantine of passengers arriving in Israel or enabling non-citizens to enter the country."The reality is very challenging and the future is unclear," said El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin in a letter sent to employees on Thursday."While we are hearing encouraging news in Israel regarding control over the coronavirus and the gradual opening of the economy to normal, a large share of the world and the markets we flew to continue to struggle and pay the price caused by the virus."Returning employees from unpaid leave at a later date, Usishkin said, will be gradual and in line with the growth of the company's commercial activities. That will only be possible, he cautioned, should the airline receive the government-secured loan it is currently negotiating.El Al is currently negotiating with the Finance Ministry and Bank Discount to finalize a rescue package to enable the airline to continue operations, but the negotiations for a loan valued at approximately $350m. are yet to reach a conclusion after eight weeks of talks. Any possible agreement is likely to require that 1,600 of the airline’s 6,500 workers are made redundant."The economic damage that we have sustained, even though it originated from the virus and not due to our business operations, requires us to take painful steps to survive the crisis and during the years that follow," Ushishkin said. "We will need to be more efficient, accurate, creative and flexible in our operations."
