QCOSTARICA – Avianca announced this morning the layoff of 60 employees in Costa Rica due the Monday announcement of suspended flights. This one day after if announced the suspension of three direct flights from Costa Rica.
The airline said it is laying off 29 pilots an 31 flight attendants.
The layoffs are due to market conditions, forcing it to suspend flights from the San José (SJO) airport and the operation of three Embraer type aircraft.
The airline, in its statement this morning, said that the suspended San José – Mexico City direct flight will be operated through its hub in San Salvador (El Salvador) starting February 1, 2015.
The statement added that starting on January 31, all flights to Costa Rica will be on the Airbus ATR-72 type of aircraft. The airline did not go into detail what the change in aircraft type entails.
On a positive note, the airline reminded that it continues to operate from Costa Rica direct flights to Bogota (Colombia), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Panama City (Panama), Lima (Peru), Managua (Nicaragua), San Salvador (El Salvador) and Tegucigalpa (Honduras).
The airline also operates connecting flights (usually through its San Salvador hub) to Toronto (Canada), Cancun (Mexico), Santiago de Chile (Chile) and Los Angeles (US), among other destinations.
