Type
Closure
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Transportation / Storage
Land, Water And Air Transportation
Air Transport
51.10 - Passenger air transport

1,858 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
2 October 2017
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date

Description

Airline company Monarch has ceased to trade and has cancelled all flights and holidays with immediate effect, leaving many passengers and holiday makers without transport. The decision means that 1,858 staff have been made redundant; 1760 employees of Monarch Airlines as well as 98 employees of Monarch Travel Group. Many of the redundancies will be from the airline's head offices in Luton.

The collapse of the 50 year old airline is the largest ever of its kind in the UK. The company made the decision to stop trading after forecasting losses of over 100 million GBP for 2018. It blamed its position on closure of certain markets in countries such as Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia and resultant higher competition for the markets in Spain and Portugal.

The Unite trade union has said it will launch a claim for compensation over the lack of consultation during the redundancy process. BALPA, which represents pilots, will also be starting a compensation claim.


Sources

  • 2 October 2017: ITV News
  • 3 October 2017: BBC Website
  • 4 October 2017: BBC Website

Citation

Eurofound (2017), Monarch, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 92360, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92360.