Embattled Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways will slash its workforce by 60%, cut its route network by 80% and dump two-thirds of its aircraft fleet as part of a mammoth turnaround plan to save the loss-making airline.
The six-year-old airline had, until only recently, been on a path of rapid growth but its long-haul ambitions were cut short when it returned its three Boeing 787 Dreamliners to lessors.
In total, Bamboo Airways has been forced to return 19 aircraft as part of a concerted effort to reduce the airline’s $454 million debt pile. That leaves the Ho Chi Minh City-based airline with a fleet of just 11 aircraft, according to Bloomberg.
Bamboo Airways is currently running a fleet of Airbus and Embraer jets, but the airline intends to dump even more airplanes to become an all Airbus operator, flying around 16 local routes and some international charters.
New chief executive Luong Hoai Nam, however, remains optimistic that the airline’s reworked business plan will see the fleet be built back up to 30 Airbus aircraft within just four years.
Nam, told Bloomberg that Bamboo Airways doesn’t have “any plan to file for bankruptcy” but admitted that the airline must “move fast” in order to survive.
