The state-owned Romanian airline Tarom has too many employees for the fleet it owns and is due for restructuring in the coming period, the Transport Minister Razvan Cuc said, quoted by Digi 24.

“A restructuring procedure of Tarom will follow. This is a normal thing to happen because we have an over-sized staff relative to the number of aircraft flown,” the minister said.

He added that he was waiting for a plan to be drafted by Tarom interim general director Alexandru Susanu by September 10.

Tarom has a fleet of 23 aircraft and almost 2,000 employees. The company reported losses of RON 104 million (EUR 22.7 million) in the first six months of this year. It recorded RON 47 million (EUR 10.3 million) losses last year, higher than in 2015, when the company was EUR 6 million in the red, according to public data from the Finance Ministry. The company hasn’t managed to find solutions to the strong competition from low cost airlines in recent years.

Alexandru Susanu was appointed as interim general director of the airline at the end of August, with a one-month mandate. Former manager Eugen Davidoiu resigned as the Prime Minister’s Control Body launched a series of controls at Tarom and at the National Investments Company.

editor@romania-insider.com