Loss-ridden German airline Air Berlin is in talks over a broad restructuring that could halve its fleet and cut 1,000 mainly sales and marketing jobs to shore up its finances and restore profitability, industry sources said on Monday.
Air Berlin and shareholder Etihad are in touch with travel group TUI about combining around 30-40 planes from Air Berlin's Austrian carrier Niki with TUI's German tourist airline TUIfly, according to three industry sources. The talks were first reported by the Munich daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Separately, Lufthansa and Air Berlin are in talks over Lufthansa taking on around 40 Air Berlin planes and crews for use by its Eurowings subsidiary, with a decision expected at a board meeting on Wednesday, sources have previously said. Two of the people said on Monday those discussions were further advanced than the talks with TUI.
Together, the two deals would see Air Berlin's fleet cut in half to around 70 planes, which would result in the loss of around 1,000 administrative jobs. Unions at TUIfly would likely resist moves to combine the carrier with Niki, which has the lowest operating costs out of the Air Berlin group.
Spokespeople for Air Berlin, Etihad and TUI all declined to comment.
TUIfly has 41 planes, 14 of which are currently operated by Air Berlin. It said last week it was in contact with Air Berlin and other partners, given the difficult financial situation at Air Berlin.
"We have to protect our economic interest in the Air Berlin contract and make sure that the Air Berlin part of our flight schedule is secure, should the situation worsen further at Air Berlin," TUIfly management wrote in a letter to employees.
Air Berlin CEO Stefan Pichler has previously said that "considerable changes" throughout the whole business are needed.
The carrier, which has made a net loss in seven of the last eight years, is trying to expand long-haul flights and lure more higher-paying business customers as part of a restructuring plan.
Pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said it was high time that management at Air Berlin provided some more information, saying the speculation was "unbearable" for staff.