EasyJet plans to close its base at Toulouse-Blagnac airport at the end of March 2025. The project has been the subject of consultation between the airline’s French management and the unions for almost two months. And uncertainty remains for the 125 employees concerned.
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The company’s financial results should be known at the end of November. And there is already talk of record profits. But EasyJet should not reverse its decision to close its base in Toulouse at the end of March 2025. For the Civil Aviation Airmen’s Union which is participating in the negotiation of a collective agreement on the content of the social plan and support measures for the 125 employees, “EasyJet really needs to live up to the profits made this year.“
Since the announcement of this closure project on September 10, management and social partners have held a series of meetings. “The dialogue is quite open“, comments one of the two Toulouse representatives of Unac. But one month before the end of the discussions, the counter-proposals to the union demands are still awaited.
Two possibilities for the 125 EasyJet employees in Toulouse: accept an assignment to another base of the company in France or leave the airline. “Without knowing the support measures, it is a little difficult for some to position themselves.” Mobility bonus, moving assistance, payment of a second rent, return trip paid for by the company to return home for those who will not be able to permanently leave Toulouse… These are the type of measures expected for employees who choose mobility.
Management arrived with a ridiculous mobility bonus, not even representing a month’s salary for cabin crew.
Union of Civil Aviation Airmen
Regarding measures for employees who decide to leave EasyJet, “at this stage, we have not made any progress“, we are told. For the moment, only the duration of external support with training organizations has been discussed.
For EasyJet’s 125 employees in Toulouse, the announced closure of the base opened a long period of turbulence. “The atmosphere is deleterious. Sadness. Employees have serious difficulty coming to work with enthusiasm“, confides a staff representative. Some are on sick leave.
Also read: “For those who cannot move, it is the end of their employment”: 125 employees threatened by the closure of a base of the low-cost company EasyJet
“There are quite a few who are really having trouble coping, because they are worried and they are waiting for the results of these negotiations which have lasted for two months.“The next meeting is scheduled for November 22 and the consultation should be completed on December 16. Can the company push through its social plan? Yes, but that would not really be in its interest.
“These are companies that benefited from state aid during Covid. And even if they respected the commitment not to lay off workers during this period, they are doing so todayi, believes the Unac elected official. There are things that make them take risks in presenting the closure project as it is today.“
Several reasons would be put forward to justify the closure of the EasyJet base in Toulouse. A lack of passengers departing from Occitanie on weekends for example. And a lack of planes to develop and consolidate the company’s bases in France. In 2019, four planes were based in Toulouse and the company had planned a fifth, but the order was canceled. Result: today, the base only has two planes. This limits turnover and increases fixed costs. “We were staffed for three planes even though we only have two.“A ready-made argument to justify the need to close, according to Unac.
Economically, EasyJet’s base in Toulouse is not the most efficient in the low-cost airline’s network in France. And the Civil Aviation Airmen’s Union highlights the cynicism of the situation: Toulouse employees were recently congratulated for their professionalism upon learning that their base had been elected the best in the network in 2024 in terms of customer satisfaction.
