PRESIDENT and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air Jamaica Bruce Nobles says staff cuts at the ailing national carrier will begin next month and continue through for 90 days as the airline restructures its operations in preparation for divestment.

Nobles was, however, unable to say how many workers would be affected by the job cuts, saying there were a number of things being worked out as the company implements its new 2009/10 business plan, aimed at making the airline more viable.

"I know we will reduce the company's operation by one third and this includes the payroll, but we do not yet know how many persons will be going," Nobles told the Observer.

According to Nobles, the airline first want to find out how many of the more than 2,000 staff members will opt for voluntary redundancy, thus reducing the number of involuntary redundancies.

In the meantime, the new schedule for the airline, which saw it chopping its Miami, Atlanta and Cayman Islands routes, will begin next month. As a result, Nobles said employees in North America who are employed to Miami and Atlanta stations as well as Cayman Islands will be among the first to lose their jobs.

Nobles, who yesterday made a presentation to Parliament's Public Administration Appropriations Committee at Gordon House in Kingston rebutted claims that Air Jamaica had the highest number of pilots per ratio to planes. For its 14 planes the national carrier currently employs 149 pilots.