More misery for airline industry as Alaska Airlines cuts 1,000 jobs

As the economy continues to slow and fuel prices continue to soar, Alaska Airlines has announced it is to axe up to 1,000 jobs and reduce capacity by 15%.

The job losses represent around 10% of the workforce and will affect pilots, cabin crew, technicians and service staff.

During the first six months of the year, the airline made a $50 million (£28 million) loss.

The news follows that from XL, who ground 21 planes last week, leaving 85,000 people stranded overseas.

XL Leisure Group was placed into administration leaving thousands of staff facing the prospect of losing their jobs.

Just last month, transatlantic airline, Zoom, became the latest airline to collapse blaming the economic downturn and soaring aviation fuel costs.

Other carriers have been badly hit by soaring fuel costs while several airlines have gone out of business this year including ATA Airlines, Aloha Airgroup, EOS, Maxjet, Silverjet and Skybus Airlines.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association recently warned that the airline industry faced a grim outlook and passenger numbers would be affected by surging fuel costs and the deteriorating economic situation.

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