Sun Country to eliminate 112 jobs, most unfilled

Sun Country Airlines is eliminating 112 jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the company, 94 of those positions are unfilled with 18 employees affected. Of those 18, the company told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that nine will be offered alternate positions.

The action being taken is effective immediately.

Sun Country issued the following statement below:

"The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented impact on the airline industry, resulting in greatly depressed demand for air travel. This decrease in demand, coupled with the expiration of federal payroll support, has led to layoffs throughout our industry. Our entire team has worked tirelessly to ensure the financial stability and future of our airline through a variety of cost-cutting measures and capacity reductions.

"Staff reductions are our last choice to reduce our costs, but they have become necessary. We are saddened to confirm that we are implementing staff reductions in our management workforce. This action will immediately affect 18 current team members.

"At this time, we have not furloughed any of our pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, stations, and dispatch teams. In fact, no frontline employees have been affected by this reduction in staffing. Only management roles are impacted. However, that doesn’t change at all how difficult these decisions have been to make.

"We are thankful for the dedication and professionalism of all our employees through this unprecedented crisis. We will get through this and look forward to serving Minnesotans for many years to come."