El Al
El AliStock

El Al Airlines announced Sunday that 400 additional employees would be placed on furlough without pay due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The move was made following the halting of cargo flights, which the company had continued in recent months even after the complete halting of passenger flights.

The company stated that the reason for the halting of cargo flights is the refusal of pilots to fly. The grounding of cargo flights will last until at least July 31.

The pilots refused to fly after negotiations between pilots committee representative Nir Reuveni and airline CEO Gonen Usishkin ended without progress last week.

On Tuesday, El Al Airlines submitted its first quarter reports detailing losses of $140 million. The company noted steps it had taken in coping with the crisis but indicated that the scope of aid required to resume flight service has yet to be determined.

So far, El Al has placed 5,800 of its employees on unpaid leave.

Israel's national airline company has been shut down since March with the exception of rescue flights of Israelis stranded abroad.