BUDGET carrier Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc., said on Wednesday that it expects its work force to revert to pre-pandemic size early next year, citing the airline industry’s sustained recovery.
“We are calling a lot of our people back. By early next year, we will be back to where we were in 2019 in terms of headcount,” Cebu Pacific President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Y. Gokongwei told reporters.
He expects the airline’s work force size to return to 4,000 next year. The laid-off employees “will be prioritized,” he also said.
The budget carrier cut its work force by 25% in 2020 due to the impact of the global health crisis on its operations. It previously said that it expects to increase the number of its employees this year to 3,678 from 3,046 in 2021.
The company has restored 100% of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity, according to Mr. Gokongwei.
“For international, you can see that a lot of countries, especially in Southeast Asia, are opening up,” he said, adding that there will be opportunities to increase flights to some Asian destinations.
The airline has set a capital-expenditure budget of P32.8 billion for 2022, mainly for fleet replacement.
The company ended 2021 with 74 aircraft, the same as in 2020. It received six new aircraft last year.
Over the next five years, it expects to have 48 deliveries and 35 exits, ending 2026 with 87 aircraft.
The airline saw its attributable net loss for the first three months of the year widen to P7.61 billion from a loss of P7.30 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The company’s revenues for the period reached P6.71 billion, 148% higher than the P2.71 billion generated in the same period in 2021. — A.L. Balinbin with R.M.D. Ochave
