El Al plans fleet cuts

Israeli news outlets are reporting that El Al has unveiled its post-COVID strategy and opened negotiations with the country's trade unions to reorganize the airline in order to return to profitability.

Part of the airline's plan is to lay-off 1,500 co-workers and reduce the fleet to 29 aircraft. Currently, El Al's fleet consists of 45 aircraft, meaning the fleet is set to be reduced with 26 aircraft. As part of the plan is to increase its focus on the North-American market, it's expected that the majority of the aircraft to be withdrawn from the fleet will be narrowbodies. El Al is also planning to close-down its charter subsidiary Sun d'Or.

Today, El Al operates a fleet of sixteen B737-800s, eight B737-900ERs, six B777-200ERs, three B787-8s and twelve B787-9s. One of the B737-800s is operated for Sun d'Or.

Photo by El Al.