The ground handler Airline Assistance Switzerland, which operates at Vienna Airport, has decided not to cut 106 jobs. The company registered this number of employees in the early warning system of the labor market service on May 12, 2021. The new short-time work now means that AAS will not carry out the downsizing.

"The extension of short-time working together with the safety car phase gives us the opportunity to observe the development of the flight market in the wake of the easing of travel restrictions caused by the Covid crisis and to take off in the event of a permanent recovery," said Nevena Dragosavljevic, spokeswoman for Airline Assistance Switzerland to the press on Wednesday. "We are delighted with this opportunity, because last year, for social reasons, we waived the extensive job cuts that were justified at the time."

Difficulties with the previous company at Vienna Airport have been a burden since the beginning

"From the start of our work at Vienna Airport, we endeavored to keep as many jobs as possible at the airport and to continue the operations of the predecessor company," explained Dragosavljevic. Despite intensive efforts by Airline Assistance Switzerland, discussions with the predecessor company did not lead to any result. "Nevertheless, we took over all 361 employees from the predecessor company," informed Dragosavljevic. However, despite a first partial judgment by the Vienna Regional Court for Civil Law Matters, the predecessor company refuses to accept the severance payment claims of these employees that it has acquired. This means that Airline Assistance Switzerland has up to now also bears the severance pay claims of employees that were not acquired as part of the employment relationship with Airline Assistance Switzerland.

The talks with the predecessor company were unsuccessful, so that it was subsequently not possible to agree to take over the equipment and buses for the bus transfer in the short transition period after the approval and the start of ground handling services. In order to still be able to offer the transferred employees a professional perspective, Airline Assistance Switzerland retrained former bus drivers as baggage drivers. Ultimately, the number of employees was far too high for the existing demand. However, for social reasons in particular, Airline Assistance Switzerland refrained from restructuring operations, which would inevitably have involved extensive job cuts.

Largest customer, Level Europe, broke away in the middle of the worst aviation crisis

In addition to the tense situation caused by the difficulties with the predecessor company, the entire aviation industry slid into its largest global economic crisis, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. From February 2020, sales collapsed by 75 to 99 percent. Airline Assistance Switzerland therefore applied for short-time working allowance for the branch at Vienna Airport in spring 2020 in order to avoid the layoff of all employees and also implemented all non-personnel savings potential immediately. Furthermore, the deferrals made possible by the tax offices and social security agencies were immediately noticed. With the insolvency of Level Europe GmbH, the largest customer of Airline Assistance Switzerland at Vienna Airport, the situation deteriorated dramatically.

The situation that has now arisen with the relaxation of the Covid travel restrictions gives hope for a recovery in the market. In the meantime, short-time work and the “safety car” phase make it possible to forego extensive dismissals. "We will now wait for the important summer season and reassess the situation at the end of the year," said Dragosavlevic.