Airline Assistance Switzerland has registered its entire workforce with Austria’s early-warning redundancy system, placing several hundred jobs at risk at Vienna Airport. The ground handler is due to lose its contract at the end of October to the incoming operator, Joint Sky Services from Eisenstadt, which has not yet given a binding commitment to take over the staff.
The move comes as the airport’s handling services prepare for a change of operator on one of Austria’s key aviation hubs. Joint Sky Services has already started recruiting, while the fate of current AAS employees remains unresolved. The warning system filing means Austrian employment authorities have been formally alerted to the planned workforce reduction.
The situation follows AAS’s loss of its handling activity at Vienna after the contract was awarded to Joint Sky Services. In July, the new provider indicated that any transfer of employees would depend on whether it also secured the contract, leaving open the question of continuity for baggage, cargo and ramp staff. The case underlines how quickly a ground-handling contract change can trigger large-scale employment risk at an airport.