111 Fired From WOW Air

111 full-time employees at WOW Air have been fired, Eyjan reports. These firings follow in the wake of the beleaguered airline reducing their fleet from 20 airplanes to 11, and the much-lauded new flight to India will also be dropped. In addition, contracts with contractors and temporary employees will not be renewed at the moment.

Skúli Mogensen (seen above), the founder and CEO of WOW Air, sent an e-mail to the airline’s staff, where he characterised the firings as “the only possible way that we see to rescue WOW Air and re-build it from its foundations”, while at the same time saying “I cannot blame anyone but myself,” as he had led the push to buy more planes and expand their operations.

As reported, Indigo Partners, the company behind budget airline Wizz Air, are strongly considering buying an undisclosed minority stake in WOW Air, with Skúli holding a minority stake.

At the same time, Airport Associates, one of the largest service providers for WOW Air, fired 237 employees last month.

WOW Air has been in a tough financial spot for a long time now. While it seemed as though Icelandair Group was going to buy out the beleaguered airline, that deal ultimately fell apart when Icelandair Group was unable to meet the conditions of the purchase.