Thousands of Jet2 staff in line for share of £58m

Thousands of Jet2 staff are in line for a share of a £58 million payout from the travel giant.

Jet2 said more than 5,700 workers will receive payments after joining its employee share plan scheme.

Workers who joined the inaugural ShareSave scheme in 2022 will now receive payments after it matured at the start of October.

It said an 84% increase in the firm’s share price over the period, from its original share option price of £7.66, means there is a return on the amount of investment by staff of more than £26 million.

Workers who have invested the maximum monthly amount stand to gain £15,261 if they opt to sell their stock.

Employees may choose to retain their shares and reinvest rather than taking out the potential payouts.

Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2 said: “We continue to grow and succeed by focusing on a simple philosophy of people, service, profits and we are delighted that our hard-working colleagues can share in the success that they helped create.

“Their passion and tireless dedication to delivering industry-leading levels of customer service is what drives our continued success, so we are incredibly pleased to see that effort rewarded through our ShareSave scheme.”

Last month, Jet2 cut its winter flight programme and said earnings will be towards the lower end of forecasts after it cautioned over a “difficult” market.

The group – which has seen the song used in its adverts, Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne, become a social media trend – said it would trim seats on sale by 200,000 to 5.6 million for the upcoming winter season, although this will still be 9% higher than a year earlier.

It flagged a “less certain consumer environment” and said holidaymakers were booking even closer to the departure date.