Monarch Group is undergoing a thorough overhaul of all its operations, which could include dropping some of its flight routes.
The sweeping strategic review is evaluating every aspect of the company’s business “from operations to ownership and financing”.
Monarch is thought to need as much as £60m injected into it, despite the Swiss billionaire Mantegazza family, which controls the group, supplying £120m to it since 2009.
External investors are being sought while PwC has been instructed to create a rescue plan in case new capital cannot be found.
The group includes the airline, the tour operator Cosmos and an aircraft engineering division.
Monarch airlines has tried to reposition itself as a low cost carrier offering better service than its rivals. Monarch’s key bases are Gatwick, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham. And last December it announced that it was back in the black.
But easyJet and Ryanair operate from bases which cost less, allowing them to beat Monarch on prices. Ryanair especially is also trying to upgrade the service it provides.
The competition among the carriers is intense. Ryanair began a price war after it had to issue two profit warnings last autumn. EasyJet increased its capacity out of Gatwick this summer by 16% in order to eliminate competition from rivals.
