HMSHost to Lay Off 62 at Dayton International Airport

Another business is planning layoffs at Dayton International Airport.

HMSHost, a company that employs restaurant and bar employees, intends to lay off about 62 employees there, the company warned Ohio government recently. What had been temporary furloughs will become permanent layoffs by October 15, the business told the state.

“To date, HMSHost continues to see an unprecedented decline in traffic in airports and on the motorways,” the company said in a Aug. 12 letter to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the travel and restaurant industries and, unfortunately, HMSHost sits at the crossroads of both.

“Never in the history of aviation and the hospitality industry, have we experienced such catastrophic customer traffic declines,” the company added.

While the company initially hoped an increase in business would be possible by summer, “the unfortunate (and in March unforeseeable) reality is that it is going to take a significant period for our business to recover,” HMSHost also said in its letter.

Employees who had been furloughed on a temporary basis will see their furlough converted to a permanent layoff on Oct. 15, if they have not been recalled by that date, the company said.

HMSHost is part of Autrogrill S.p.A., an Italian global catering company, which bills itself as “the world’s largest provider of food and beverage services for travelers.” The company says it has 41,000 employees worldwide and annual (pre-pandemic) sales of more than $3.5 billion.

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