Royal Air Maroc outlines staff, fleet cuts as state steps in

Royal Air Maroc (AT, Casablanca Mohamed V) has reached an agreement with its sole shareholder, the Moroccan government, over a financial support package which will require the airline to implement drastic fleet and personnel cuts.

According to Morocco's Medias24 portal, the government and the Hassan II Fund should provide support in a variety of forms (i.e. guarantees, debt, and equity purchases) to the airline which has been losing MAD50 million Moroccan dirhams (USD5.16 million) per day as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Although an exact figure was not specified, previous media reports have pointed to RAM being granted a package valued at more than MAD16 billion dirhams (USD1.65 billion).

In return, RAM's chief executive Abdelhamid Addou told a workers council meeting on July 2 that the airline would implement the following cuts:

858 staff will be retrenched, including 180 pilots and 500 cabin crew. Around 13% of ground staff, not counting those employed at subsidiaries such as RAM Handling, will also be let go with recent recruits and those who have been with the airline for less than three years affected. Staff aged 57 and over and who have been at the airline for at least 15 years will also be offered voluntary redundancy packages, subject to board approval.
Against the backdrop of anticipated weak demand expected to run through to 2023, 20 aircraft will be decommissioned and possibly disposed of including four B787s (variant unspecified), four ERJ 190-100ARs (all leased from Nordic Aviation Capital), and twelve B737s. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, RAM's fleet includes six ATR72-600s, six B737-700s, two B737-8s, thirty-one B737-800s, five B787-8s, four B787-9s, and one B767-300ER(BCF). The report did not specify whether sale/lease-back agreements would be pursed as opposed to outright aircraft sales, given the bulk of RAM's fleet is wholly-owned with just 14 aircraft - ten B737-800s and the Embraers - leased from third parties.