Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) says it will trim 500 support and managerial posts over the next few months as it aims to achieve what it terms 'record levels of sustained profitability by 2018.' Cuts will be achieved through a combination of natural attrition, redeployment and redundancies.

Virgin says the drive to reduce non-fuel costs are part of a transformation plan whose overall objective is to produce a simpler, more efficient hierarchy featuring fewer management layers. By bringing the company closer to its customers, Virgin says it will be better able to meet their changing needs, thus becoming more cost efficient.

“To truly position Virgin Atlantic for long-term and sustained success, we need to be a more efficient and agile organisation that has the ability to invest even more in the areas that make Virgin Atlantic’s customer experience unique," Craig Kreeger, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said. "As a people-oriented business, these are extremely tough decisions to take, but we know they are necessary to secure our future. We are committed to supporting our people as we deliver against these plans.”

The UK-based carrier recently completed a restructuring plan that culminated in it registering a pre-tax profit of GBP14.4 million (USD21.6 million) in 2014 - its first in three years of losses.