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Feb. 22, 2021
El Al, Israel’s largest airline, is preparing to fire one-third of its employees. Workers who are in danger of dismissal will be notified by human resources Monday.
According to the collective bargaining agreement signed with management in July, the layoff process is contingent upon El Al receiving a state-backed loan from banks. Even after that, the unions reserve the right to swap 15% of the workers on the list of intended layoffs at their discretion.
El Al is in advanced talks with a group headed by Bank Leumi and Israel Discount Bank for a $300 million loan, to be repaid with 5% interest over five years. The state will guarantee 82.5% of the loan. The effective interest for the banks will be 28.5%. Analysts believe Leumi and Discount will try to add Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings to the group of lenders. The talks made progress after El Al raised $77 million last week in an options sale. Kanfei Nesharim, El Al’s controlling shareholder, provi