The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Transportation / Storage 51 - Air transport 51.1 - Passenger air transport 51.10 - Passenger air transport
382 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
10 December 2025
Employment effect (start)
24 November 2025
Foreseen end date
10 December 2025
Description
SmartLynx Airlines faces the loss of nearly all its jobs in Latvia after the airline ceased operations in November 2025. At the time of shutdown, the company employed around 380 people in Latvia.
The company entered legal protection proceedings in late October 2025 following financial difficulties and high levels of debt. In parallel, ownership changed hands, with 90% of shares sold to the Dutch entity Stichting Break Point Distressed Assets Management, while the CEO and CFO each acquired 5%. Despite the restructuring attempt, operations were halted on 24 November 2025, and all air operator certificates (Latvia, Estonia, Malta) were suspended, leading the company to file for insolvency shortly thereafter. Only a small team remained in place to manage aircraft returns to lessors.
The trade union for aviation employees raised concerns about how SmartLynx handled the dismissals. It stated that the company was asking employees to sign mutual termination agreements, which provide only pay for worked time and compensation for unused leave, without statutory severance. The union highlighted that this approach circumvents proper consultation processes required in collective redundancies and could leave workers without access to protections normally available in insolvency cases.
Trade union also noted that many crew members are employed on service contracts via agencies. Thus they fall outside the formal redundancy process entirely.
The public broadcaster’s programme de Facto reported that the State Labour Inspectorate has begun an investigation into the dismissal of employees, but has not yet reported its conclusions.
Sources
24 November 2025: Public Broadcastiong of Latvia, lsm.lv (www.lsm.lv)
7 December 2025: Public Broadcastiong of Latvia, lsm.lv (www.lsm.lv)
27 November 2025: Public Broadcastiong of Latvia, lsm.lv (www.lsm.lv)
10 December 2025: Public Broadcasting of Latvia, lsm.lv (www.lsm.lv)
Citation
Eurofound (2025), SmartLynx Airlines, Bankruptcy in Latvia, factsheet number 203833, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203833.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
