Covid-19 forces Bristow Helicopters to sack 100 pilots and engineers

Bristow Helicopters has announced the sack of over 100 pilots and engineers in its employ.

In a statement released on Tuesday August 4, the company said the workers were layed off due to the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on its operations.

The aviation company which described the sack as “painful”, said it engaged with the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) to negotiate a fair and equitable redundancy compensation for those affected.

The statement partly read;

“This decision has not been made lightly, but having considered the state of the business and the very serious constraints caused by the spread of the COVID-19 disease and the downturn in the oil and gas market, the company must now take this painful, but decisive step to ensure the continuity of its business and delivery of essential services to its clients

“One of these measures includes the right-sizing of the business to ensure that the company has the optimal level of personnel to continue the safe delivery of its services to its clients, whilst allowing the appropriate capacity for future growth.

“Accordingly, and with much regret, the company has taken the very difficult decision to release over 100 pilots and engineers (both National and Expatriates) over the next couple of weeks.”

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This is coming barely 24 hours after Air Peace sacked scores of pilots across its fleet while slashing staff salaries by up to 40 percent.