By Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson
Airlines have warned that they must be curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and are encouraging employees to accept voluntary departure agreements in hopes of avoiding involuntary leave in the fall, when the $ 25 billion in government rescue funds are depleted .
Southwest, with around 60,900 employees in 2019, said it would accept 4,400 requests for early retirement and would evaluate nearly 12,500 requests for extended time off packages.
A person who reviewed the numbers said they represented about 24% of the Southwest pilots and 33% of the flight attendants.
Meanwhile, Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said the early retirement offers of 2,234 pilots before Sunday’s deadline were “significant progress as we seek to mitigate permits.” The company is working to determine next steps and its overall pilot staff outlook, he said.
Delta last month issued license warnings to around 2,500 pilots, though airlines are generally reluctant to lose pilots due to the costly and timely training necessary to bring them back.
If a COVID-19 vaccine is developed and demand returns, airlines want to respond quickly. But for now, many have warned that the reserves that began to rise in May and June from the dramatic lows in April have stabilized or even decreased due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country.
United, American and Southwest publish quarterly results this week.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson; Dan Grebler Edition)
