Max Powers
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United Will Furlough About 950 Pilots
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]Move, to Be Completed
By the End of Next Year,
Follows Plan to Cut Fleet[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times,serif][FONT=times new roman,times,serif]By SUSAN CAREY
June 24, 2008; Page B3[/FONT]
[/FONT]
CHICAGO -- United Airlines' 6,500 pilots were notified Monday that their employer intends to furlough about 950 of them by the end of 2009 as a result of plans to reduce the fleet by 100 aircraft to cope with surging oil prices.
In a message to the aviators, Keith Rimer, the airline's system chief pilot, said that because of the number of pilots on military and personal leaves, furlough notices will be sent to more than 1,400 of the airline's least-senior pilots in order to cut the active roster by 950. The pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association union, which is working with the company on ways of mitigating the number of involuntary furloughs. An ALPA spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
Associated Press United's pilot cuts will start with 100 jobs in September. Above, pilots picket on June 12. United parent UAL Corp. earlier this month announced plans to cut its domestic capacity around 15% by the fourth quarter of this year, compared with a year earlier, and trim its seats on offer for all of 2008 by 8% from a year earlier. As a result, it said it is adding 70 more aircraft to the 30 already targeted for early retirement, which will shrink the overall fleet to 360 jetliners by next year.
At the time, United said it would cut about 1,000 more salaried and management jobs than the 500 already announced, or about 20% of that work group. The impact on its other unionized workers, including mechanics, ramp employees and flight attendants, hasn't yet been quantified. The Chicago-based company, the second-largest U.S. airline by traffic after AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, currently has about 55,000 employees. United confirmed the pilot layoffs Monday, saying that as the carrier cuts its fleet, "we must take the difficult but necessary steps to reduce the number of people we have to run our business."
The pilot cuts will begin with 100 jobs to be reduced in September, the month the airline starts to shrink, and will proceed into 2009, said the chief pilot. "Furloughs are an unfortunate and difficult reality for the airline industry," he said in his message.
United furloughed thousands of employees after the 2001 terrorist attacks. But in the past couple of years as it returned to profitability the company was recalling some furloughed employees and even hiring new flight attendants.
Other big airlines also have announced plans in recent weeks to shrink their operations, ground older aircraft, defer deliveries of new planes on order and cut jobs. Delta Air Lines Inc. shed 4,000 jobs through voluntary buyouts. American Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. also have announced plans for reducing their headcounts and fleets.
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]Move, to Be Completed
By the End of Next Year,
Follows Plan to Cut Fleet[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times,serif][FONT=times new roman,times,serif]By SUSAN CAREY
June 24, 2008; Page B3[/FONT]
[/FONT]
CHICAGO -- United Airlines' 6,500 pilots were notified Monday that their employer intends to furlough about 950 of them by the end of 2009 as a result of plans to reduce the fleet by 100 aircraft to cope with surging oil prices.
In a message to the aviators, Keith Rimer, the airline's system chief pilot, said that because of the number of pilots on military and personal leaves, furlough notices will be sent to more than 1,400 of the airline's least-senior pilots in order to cut the active roster by 950. The pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association union, which is working with the company on ways of mitigating the number of involuntary furloughs. An ALPA spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
At the time, United said it would cut about 1,000 more salaried and management jobs than the 500 already announced, or about 20% of that work group. The impact on its other unionized workers, including mechanics, ramp employees and flight attendants, hasn't yet been quantified. The Chicago-based company, the second-largest U.S. airline by traffic after AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, currently has about 55,000 employees. United confirmed the pilot layoffs Monday, saying that as the carrier cuts its fleet, "we must take the difficult but necessary steps to reduce the number of people we have to run our business."
The pilot cuts will begin with 100 jobs to be reduced in September, the month the airline starts to shrink, and will proceed into 2009, said the chief pilot. "Furloughs are an unfortunate and difficult reality for the airline industry," he said in his message.
United furloughed thousands of employees after the 2001 terrorist attacks. But in the past couple of years as it returned to profitability the company was recalling some furloughed employees and even hiring new flight attendants.
Other big airlines also have announced plans in recent weeks to shrink their operations, ground older aircraft, defer deliveries of new planes on order and cut jobs. Delta Air Lines Inc. shed 4,000 jobs through voluntary buyouts. American Airlines, Continental Airlines Inc. and US Airways Group Inc. also have announced plans for reducing their headcounts and fleets.
