CHICAGO (Reuters) – United Airlines (UAL.O) is preparing for the biggest pilot event in its history after announcing on Thursday the need to cut 2,850 pilot jobs this year, or about 21% of the total, without further US government assistance.
Airlines, which are reeling from the devastating impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on air travel, have asked the US government to raise another $ 25 billion to cover the payroll of workers until March.
The first tranche, which bans all jobs until October 1, expires in late September, but talks in Washington have stalled when Congress struggles to reach agreement on a broader coronavirus package.
United’s planned cuts, released in a memo to employees and shared with the media, would run between October 1 and November 30. They are significantly higher than the 1,900 announced earlier this week by Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and 1,600 by American Airlines (AAL.O).
Against a shrinking sector in the coming years, airlines have generally sought to limit the number of forced job cuts by offering early retirement or voluntary agreements, but packages from some carriers have been more attractive than others.
“While other airlines have chosen to reduce manpower through voluntary means, it is tragic that United has restricted these options to our pilots and instead opted for more pilots than ever before in our history,” the union said the 13,000 pilots of United represented in a statement.
United said the numbers were based on current travel requirements for the rest of the year and the expected flight schedule, which it said “remains fluid with the rise of COVID-19 in regions across the US”
Chicago-based United is more exposed than its peers to international travel, which is expected to take longer to recover from the pandemic.
United, which has warned that 36,000 jobs are on the line across the company, has not yet provided definitive forecast numbers for other working groups.
American said Tuesday that it has cut 19,000 jobs in addition to voluntary reductions that have reduced the company’s workforce by about 30%.
United’s announcement comes on the last day of the Republican National Convention, where President Donald Trump will try to regain momentum against the backdrop of a pandemic that has killed more than 180,000 Americans and produced a recession that it has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs.
Reported by Tracy Rucinski; Edited by Bernadette Baum and Alistair Bell
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