Mumbai, May 29 (IANS): Low-cost European airline easyJet will shortly launch an employee consultation process on proposals to reduce staff strength by up to 30 per cent. The move is consequent to the airline's plan to restructure its business.

"To effect the restructuring of our business, easyJet will shortly launch an employee consultation process on proposals to reduce staff numbers by up to 30 per cent, reflecting the reduced fleet, the optimisation of our network and bases, improved productivity as well as the promotion of more efficient ways of working," the airline said in a regulatory statement.

As per the statement, the airline will launch the consultation process in the coming days.

In the same statement, easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said: "Although we will restart flying on June 15, we expect demand to build slowly, only returning to 2019 levels in about three years' time.

"Against this backdrop, we are planning to reduce the size of our fleet and to optimise the network and our bases. As a result, we anticipate reducing staff numbers by up to 30 per cent across the business. We will continue to remove cost and non-critical expenditure at every level. We will be launching an employee consultation over the coming days."

The airline will resume flying on June 15, servicing a small number of routes. The initial schedule will comprise mainly domestic flying in the UK and France.