AirBaltic to Cut Up to 700 Jobs in Restructuring

Latvian airline airBaltic said on Monday, October 5, 2026, that between 500 and 700 positions could be eliminated across its three Baltic bases in Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn. The cuts are part of a new business plan following the airline's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in New York in September.

airBaltic employs roughly 3,000 people across the Baltics, so the reductions could affect up to about 23% of its workforce, according to various sources. The airline said the final number of layoffs could change as the process unfolds.

Part of a Chapter 11 Restructuring

airBaltic sought Chapter 11 protection to address its debt load, citing elevated fuel costs and operational disruption tied to the Iran war, according to Bloomberg. Chapter 11 is a U.S. bankruptcy process that lets a company keep operating while it restructures its debts under court supervision.

The airline is majority-owned by the Latvian government, with Germany's Lufthansa holding a 10% minority stake. Reuters reported that the carrier is aiming to complete a sweeping restructuring focused on cutting its mounting debt through capacity and fleet reductions.

The broader plan, as described by the airline, includes a smaller Airbus A220-300 fleet and expanded year-round ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) partnerships. The airline currently operates around 50 A220-300 aircraft.

Financing for the Restructuring

Last month, the airline gained approval to access €140 million of a wider €350 million financing package to support operations during the restructuring. The package comes in a form that is known as debtor-in-possession financing, the type of funding bankrupt companies use to keep operating. It was reported that full court approval was pending.

What Happens Next for Staff

airBaltic has notified Latvia's State Employment Agency of the planned collective redundancy process. The company said new organizational structures for the rest of the business are expected to be defined by mid-October.

The airline is also in talks with unions about potential reduced-workload arrangements for pilots and cabin crew. CEO Erno Hilden said that the airline recognizes that this is an “important and sensitive process” for the team.

Operations Unaffected for Now

airBaltic said the planned workforce changes do not affect its current flight schedule and that all scheduled flights are operating as planned.

Not the First Round of Cuts

This is not the first time airBaltic has moved to shrink its workforce. In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, the airline announced it would temporarily dismiss 250 employees and submitted a collective redundancy notice to the Latvian State Employment Agency, according to Eurofound's restructuring database, which also lists 400 planned job losses.

At the time, the airline employed 1,786 people. The current plan is larger in scale, with between 500 and 700 positions in play, though the 2020 dismissals were described as temporary.

What Comes Next

With new organizational structures due by mid-October, the picture of who is affected should become clearer in the coming weeks. For now, the airline's message to customers is that flights continue as scheduled while the restructuring runs its course.