Israel airline to put 80% of staff on unpaid leave due to coronavirus

Israel’s El Al Airlines has announced its intension to terminate the contracts of 600 staff members and force 80 per cent of others to take unpaid leave, Israeli TV Channel 12 revealed.

The company, which has 6,300 staff members, is taking action in order to deal with the economic impact caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The Israeli channel said that the decision is to force 4,000 employees to take unpaid leave, pointing out that 90 per cent of the pilots will be off over the coming months.

Company executives and directors will be subject to a 20 per cent pay cut, taking effect retroactively from 1 March.

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