Summary
- S7 Airlines is cutting flights from Moscow and reducing crew members attributable to changes in its route network.
- The airline is offering pilots to retrain on different aircraft types and has invited employees to relocate to bases outside of Moscow.
- Flight schedules have been rearranged, with a decrease in Airbus A320 flights Yr-on-Yr (YOY).
Russia-based S7 Airlines is cutting flights from Moscow and is significantly reducing its crew member headcount on the capital. The airline said that the cuts were made following changes to its network, saying that it was as a substitute specializing in its key cities beyond the Ural Mountains.
Offering pilots to retrain on other aircraft
In an announcement to the Russian news agency TASS, S7 argued that since it decided to alter its route network and reduce flights from the Moscow region, the carrier was forced to redistribute its pilots and reduce the variety of employees there. it added.
Moscow is served by 4 major airports: Domodedovo Airport (DME), Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO), Vnukovo International Airport (VKO), and Zhukovsky International Airport (ZIA). Nevertheless, S7 Airlines only operates flights from/to DME. In accordance with the aviation analytics company Cirium data, the airline had scheduled 2,652 one-way flights from DME in January 2023. By January 2024, the flight number has been reduced to 1,479 flights, representing a major decrease in flights served from the airport by the airline.
Photo: dentorson/Shutterstock
The carrier’s representative also told TASS that it continues to deploy more capability from its bases in Siberia, including Novosibirsk International Airport (OVB) and International Airport Irkutsk (IKT). It has also invited a few of its employees to relocate to bases away from DME, offering them to retrain on other aircraft types, similar to the Embraer E170. As well as, some flight crews and flight attendants were offered to other airlines, including international carriers operating in Russia, in keeping with S7 Airlines’ representative.
Meanwhile, an Aeroflot spokesperson told RIA Novosti that the airline and its low-cost subsidiary, Pobeda, were able to hire the laid-off S7 Airlines flight attendants to work for the 2 airlines in Moscow. In accordance with the representative, the group has already hired 80 people.
Boss Of Russia’s S7 Airlines Says ‘Reverse Engineering’ Must Be Mastered To Keep Aircraft Flying
S7 Group’s chairman believes that Russia must master reverse engineering in an effort to keep the establishment of the country’s airline industry.
Rearranging flight schedules
Cirium data also showed that while in January 2023, there have been 217 flights that S7 Airlines operated with an E170 from DME, in January 2024, the kind was not present on the airline’s schedules from the airport. In January 2024, many of the airline’s Embraer E170 flights were operated out of OVB and IKT, representing 1,480 frequencies out of a complete of two,629 throughout the month.