GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A food service contractor at Gerald R. Ford International Airport says it will permanently lay off 84 employees if business doesn’t rebound by mid-October.
HMS Host said the employees, who are now on temporary furlough, will be notified by Oct. 15 of whether they will be permanently laid off.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the travel and restaurant industries, and, unfortunately, HMS Host sits at the crossroads of both,” the company said in an Aug. 11 letter to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
“Never in the history of the aviation and the hospitality industry, have we experienced such catastrophic customer traffic declines.”
Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
HMS Host is based in Bethesda, Maryland, and operates in more than 120 airports worldwide and more than 80 travel plazas in North America. It employs about 41,000 associates, and its annual sales exceed $3.5 billion.
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