Onnibus.com announced Monday that it planned to begin restructuring talks on Wednesday that will affect 78 employees.
Onnibus chief executive Lauri Helkke told the tabloid daily Iltalehti that the company hopes that scaling back on routes and employee numbers will help improve profitability in a situation there ticket prices have fallen significantly.
The job restructuring talks are scheduled to last six weeks and will include almost all of the company’s staff, some 300 employees. According to Helkke, the talks are aimed at reducing head count by 60 drivers and 14 terminal workers at the Kamppi station in Helsinki, as well as four office staff in Tampere.
"These are the maximum reduction needs. In the co-determination talks with employee organisations we are not looking for ways together to minimise these measures," Helkke said.
Some routes unprofitable
Helkke said that the company launched the negotiations now because of major expansions implemented in 2016. He said that the firm has extended operations to some routes that proved to be unprofitable.
He added that the expansion had also resulted in redundancies and that eliminating them would mean the company would be able to provide service with fewer working hours.
Airport – Turku route on chopping block
The Onnibus CEO said that the company has already decided to scrap the service from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Turku, starting from February 27.
"The airport as a concept didn’t work for us. Although there are many commuters going to the airport, there aren’t necessarily coming back, especially from incoming flights," he noted.
Helkke disclosed that the company is not considering discontinuation of any additional routes.
"We eliminated cross-traffic routes in mid-November. We are now looking at the remaining big picture to see whether there are loss-making routes that are not worth servicing, for example on Tuesdays or Wednesdays," he added.
The bus firm boss pointed out that demand is high on weekends and holiday periods, but mid-week and during winter time there is less work.
No change to ticket prices
Helkke said that Onnibus is not planning to hike ticket prices, adding that it was the pioneer in reducing intercity bus fares in Finland.
"Other providers have joined the competition. A significant reduction in rail prices one year ago has affected general price levels, and that also determines our prices," he explained.
According to Helkke while price competition from the national rail provider VR has kept prices down, it has not caused Onnibus to lose passengers.