Blue1 To Lay Off Pilots, Cut Routes.

[cHabu]

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Blue1 To Lay Off Pilots, Cut Routes.

November 28, 2008

Blue1, the Finnish subsidiary of Scandinavian airline SAS, plans to temporarily lay off pilots and trim
its routes due to weaker demand, the firm was quoted as saying on Friday.

Some 100 Blue1 pilots will be laid off for around 10 days between January and May, and the firm will
halt less-profitable southern European routes for the winter. Blue 1 is also seeking partners on other routes
where passenger numbers have fallen.

"In total we have reduced our capacity slightly and passenger numbers have fallen around 10 percent from last year,"
Blue1 spokesman Tom Christides told national Finnish broadcaster YLE.

Blue1 would also consider trimming its fleet from two aircraft models to one, with Christides saying its MD90s
were too big considering the weak demand.

One "strong option" would be switching to smaller Boeing 737-600 series planes that SAS is already using on other routes.

(Reuters)

Credit: Airwise.com

Bye, Chris.