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Tui UK begins consultation to reduce staff hours at 300 shops as part of ‘online drive’
vast majority reducing by 30 minutes a day, opening at 9.30am instead of 9am.” Tui also confirmed the changes would affect staff at its 300 “slowest-performing stores”, not at its “300 smallest shops”, as announced last week. A spokeswoman said these shops were identified on the basis of their “combined travel and foreign exchange targets”. The company said the changes would allow the shops “to operate on a more efficient staffing model” as part of a “long-term strategy to become an online-driven business”. Tui has about 850 shops in the UK and the
Ian Taylor
Tui UK began a consultation with staff at 300 shops on reducing their working hours this week as it continues to drive Thomson and First Choice bookings online. A spokeswoman insisted the proposed changes did
not extend beyond a reduction in hours. She declined to say how many staff would see their hours cut but confirmed: “There could be some [voluntary] redundancies.” The company said the proposals were “around the number and pattern of hours” shop staff work. It said: “Tui is proposing a range of changes to the trading hours in these shops, with the
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spokeswoman said: “We want to keep as many shops open as we can.” Some of the affected shops open six days a week and some seven. The company insisted: “Thomson retail staff are a valued part of the business and Tui UK & Ireland is
“Thomson retail staff are a valued and essential part of the business”
committed to mitigating the impact on them.” The consultation – a legal requirement for a change to staff contracts – began on Tuesday and will last 45 days for staff in England, Wales and Scotland and 90 days for those in Northern Ireland. ❯ Letters, page 41
‘Lens’ on Little Red as Virgin refocuses Hollie-Rae Merrick and Ian Taylor
Virgin Atlantic will increase services to the US but axe four key routes worldwide as it refocuses on “routes that deliver maximum profit or strategic importance”. The carrier was non-committal on
reports that it is also poised to end its Little Red domestic operation, launched in March last year to connect Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Manchester with Heathrow. In a statement, the carrier said:
“We
Narita at the end of January, drop its summer service to Vancouver from October this year and pull its winter service to Cape Town from April 2015. However, it will offer additional daily services
think we
“We have seen good growth in passenger traffic and load factors on all Little Red routes this year.” However, it added: “We look at Little Red through the same lens as the rest of the business – it must deliver on performance, potential or strategic contribution.” Virgin will cease flights to Mumbai and Tokyo
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travelweekly.co.uk — 11 September 2014
have built a network plan to last”
from Heathrow to New York and Los Angeles, a daily service to Detroit and increased frequencies to San Francisco, Miami and Atlanta. Chief executive Craig Kreeger said the move followed analysis of the routes’ profitability. He told Travel Weekly: “Unfortunately, there were four routes we couldn’t get through. This marks a
transition from recovery to building for the future. We’re no longer in recovery mode. We have a plan for a bright future. “We didn’t have a plan to be bigger in one
location and not somewhere else. We think we have built a network plan to last. I hope there will be future growth in locations such as China and Latin America.” ❯ Virgin Atlantic axes four routes, page 30
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300 shops
Tui wants to reduce opening hours at
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