CHICAGO, June 23 (Reuters) - UAL Corp (UAUA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), parent of United Airlines, said on Monday it plans to lay off 950, or nearly 15 percent, of its pilots as it prepares to cut domestic capacity to offset soaring fuel prices.
"As we reduce the size of our fleet and take actions companywide to enable United to compete in an environment of record fuel prices, we must take the difficult, but necessary step to reduce the number of people we have to run our business," the No. 2 U.S. carrier said in a statement.
United has said it plans to cut its staff by 1,400 to 1,600 as it aims to reduce domestic capacity by 14 percent in the fourth quarter.
The airline industry has been battered by record high fuel costs, and major carriers are groping for stability through capacity cuts that enable them to run leaner operations and charge higher fares.
A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents United pilots, was not immediately available for comment. The airline currently has 6,518 pilots, according to its Web site.
United said it is working to notify all of its employee groups of furloughs as it determines the impact of capacity cuts.
Shares of UAL were down 15.8 percent at $6.03, shortly before the close of regular trade Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
"As we reduce the size of our fleet and take actions companywide to enable United to compete in an environment of record fuel prices, we must take the difficult, but necessary step to reduce the number of people we have to run our business," the No. 2 U.S. carrier said in a statement.
United has said it plans to cut its staff by 1,400 to 1,600 as it aims to reduce domestic capacity by 14 percent in the fourth quarter.
The airline industry has been battered by record high fuel costs, and major carriers are groping for stability through capacity cuts that enable them to run leaner operations and charge higher fares.
A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents United pilots, was not immediately available for comment. The airline currently has 6,518 pilots, according to its Web site.
United said it is working to notify all of its employee groups of furloughs as it determines the impact of capacity cuts.
Shares of UAL were down 15.8 percent at $6.03, shortly before the close of regular trade Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
