Hong Kong Airlines confirmed that the company will announce the details of its restructuring plan in the coming days in a bid to stay afloat.

“To ensure that Hong Kong Airlines is in a better position to operate in the challenging years ahead, an internal restructure is deemed necessary to help the company achieve a leaner and more efficient organization,” it said in reply to media queries on Tuesday. It added that further details will be announced to the staff in the next few days.

According to an internal memo, the company said it would merge some departments and streamline its operations. Despite having adopted various cost-cutting measures, including a no-pay leave program, they were not sustainable in the long run, the memo stated.

Multiple media outlets reported on Monday that the cash-strapped carrier mulls cutting several hundred or even 1,000 jobs — around half of its workforce.

The airline is also reportedly planning to ground all 12 Airbus A320s, except for eight A330s for cargo routes in a shift of focus on cargo operations.

It would also reduce the flight between Hong Kong and Shanghai to once a week, another media reported.

Hong Kong Airlines had 3,481 employees before the coronavirus pandemic. It slashed around 650 jobs over the past 18 months and asked pilots and cabin crew to take unpaid leave.

The carrier has been struggling even before the pandemic, thanks to its debt-ridden owner HNA Group which has entered a bankruptcy restructuring process.

Meanwhile, the airline’s all-cargo subsidiary Hong Kong Air Cargo Carrier Ltd. was approved by the government to operate nine new routes in May, including Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

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