The financial fallout from the global coronavirus outbreak is forcing Israel's national airline to lay off some 1,000 of its 6,000 employees.
On Thursday, El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin reached out to senior directors and asked them to present him with a plan for layoffs following the company's report that coronavirus would cost the airline some $70 million in revenue.
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Also on Thursday, El Al announced that it would be cancelling all flights to destinations in Italy and to Bangkok, Thailand, in addition to the halt in service to Japan, Beijing, and Hong Kong, which is in effect until May 2, 2020. The airline also announced that it would push back the inauguration of its new route to Tokyo to April 4, 2020.
El Al has faced mass cancellations of reservations to Italy and Thailand because of concerns about the virus. This week, the Health Ministry advised Israelis to avoid all travel abroad.
