Tui to slash up to 8,000 jobs

European travel giant Tui plans to slash up to 8,000 jobs as the coronavirus crisis forces it to cut costs.

That number includes positions that “will either not be recruited or reduced” under a plan to trim overhead costs by 30 percent, the Germany-based conglomerate said Wednesday.

The company with more than 70,000 employees around the world called the pandemic “the greatest crisis the tourism industry and Tui has ever faced.”

“Tui should emerge from the crisis stronger. But it will be a different Tui and it will find a different market environment than before the pandemic,” CEO Fritz Joussen said in a statement. “In order to return to the successful development of the past years after the crisis, we must now implement the realignment quickly.”

Tui, which owns airlines, cruise ships, hotels and travel agencies, reported a 10.1 percent drop in revenues for the first three months of 2020 as the virus destroyed demand for travel.

Business was strong before the crisis hit, with revenues growing 6 percent from October through February before virus-related travel restrictions forced the company to “largely discontinue” its business, according to a press release.

While the company said it’s getting ready for travel activities to resume in Germany and Europe, it recently got a loan of 1.8 billion euros (about $1.9 billion) to shore it up until business can get back to normal.

Airbnb laying off 25% of staff

Airbnb (AIRB) plans  to lay off 1,900 employees, or roughly a quarter of its total work force, CEO Brian Chesky told employees Tuesday, as the coronavirus pandemic takes a brutal toll on the travel business.

Revenue this year is expected to be less than half what it was in 2019, Chesky said in a memo. The company had $4.8 billion in revenue last year. Chesky also said that Airbnb will narrow its focus, suspending projects related to transportation and television production and scaling back efforts to market hotels and luxury properties.

Airbnb's bookings have plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the company's liquidity improvement efforts have included a $1B debt and equity financing and a new $1B loan.

Uber to lay off 3,700 employees, about 14% of workforce

Uber Technologies Inc. is cutting about 3,700 workers as the ride-hailing service looks to reduce costs amid the coronavirus pandemic that has led to a dramatic fall off in rides.

The San Francisco-based company revealed the job cuts Wednesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission a day ahead of reporting first-quarter financial results. The terminations, which affect the customer support and recruiting teams, will likely result in $20 million in severance and other benefit costs, the company said.

United Airlines plans 30% cut to management ranks from October

(Reuters) - United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) has told employees that it expects its management and administrative ranks to be around 30% smaller starting in October, according to a company memo seen by Reuters.

United is among U.S. airlines that have accepted U.S. government payroll aid that bans job cuts until Sept. 30. United has warned that air travel demand hit by the coronavirus pandemic is unlikely to have recovered by that date, forcing it to downsize.