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EasyJet is to resume a small number of flights on June 15, with increased safety measures on board including mandatory wearing of face masks, as it returns to the skies after grounding its entire fleet on March 30.
The airline initially will restart domestic routes in the UK and France where it says there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying. Further routes will be added in the following weeks, as and when passenger demand rises and lockdown measures ease further across Europe.
The company will introduce enhanced cleaning and disinfection of its aircraft, make disinfectant wipes and hand sanitiser available on board, and require all passengers and cabin crew, as well as ground crew, to wear masks. There will be no food service onboard, initially.
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However, the airline will not block off the middle seats in its planes despite saying last month it was considering such a move. It says the measures “have been implemented in consultation with aviation authorities”.
Before the announcement, easyJet launched an emergency cost-cutting programme, with a hiring, promotion and pay freeze, and furloughing all but 650 of its 14,000 staff.
EasyJet’s rival Ryanair has also announced a resumption of flights. The Irish carrier intends to restart 40 percent of its flights in July, operating almost 1,000 a day, but with only half the number of passengers between July and September than previously forecast.
EasyJet’s chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said the airline was taking “small and carefully planned steps” to gradually resume operations.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation across Europe so, when more restrictions are lifted, the schedule will continue to build over time to match demand, while also ensuring we are operating efficiently and on routes that our customers want,” he said.
EasyJet’s announcement comes just days after the airline revealed that the personal data of 9 million customers, including email addresses and travel details, was accessed in a cyber-attack. Of those people affected, 2,208 had their credit card information stolen, although no passport details were uncovered.
The company has contacted customers whose card details were taken, while everyone else affected will be contacted by May 26. The breach is one of the largest to affect any company in the UK, and raises the possibility of easyJet paying a large fine at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has put it under severe financial pressure.
EasyJet also faces a crunch investor meeting on Friday when its 34 percent shareholder and founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, brings forward a vote to oust four of the airline’s directors including Lundgren, the chairman, John Barton, and the airline’s finance director, Andrew Findlay.
Haji-Ioannou has argued that an order for 107 airlines from Airbus is endangering the survival of the carrier he launched from Luton airport in 1995.
This article was written by Joanna Partridge from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
Photo Credit: EasyJet will restart domestic routes in the UK and France where it says there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying. Frederick Tubiermont / Unsplash
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