And So It Begins...........Planned Reduction in Fleet by 100 Aircraft to Result in 950 Pilot Furloughs by Year-End 2009 Due to the number of United pilots on military and personal leave, approximately 1450 furlough notices will be distributed over time in order to reduce our active pilot ranks by 950. Posted June 23, 2008 <h4 class="style02">Today we announced initial details concerning the first wave of pilot furloughs resulting from our plans to take 100 aircraft from our mainline fleet due to record high oil prices and a softening U.S. economy. The first notices to furlough approximately 100 pilots for the flying month of September will be issued in mid-July.</h4>By the end of 2009, when we expect to complete the full reduction of our 94 B737 aircraft and six B747s (see June 4 NewsReal), we anticipate the need to furlough approximately 950 active pilots. This process is one of the difficult but necessary steps we need to take to size our business appropriately to reflect the current market reality. Due to the number of United pilots on military and personal leave, approximately 1450 furlough notices will be distributed over time in order to reduce our active pilot ranks by 950. We currently are discussing with ALPA ways to reduce the number of involuntary furloughs, and we will communicate any agreements that result. With respect to frontline employees, we will identify what reductions are necessary as we finalize schedules. We will continue to explore financially and operationally viable alternatives to minimize the impact on employees with unions representing our employees. As we previously announced, workforce reductions are occurring in every area of the company. Layoffs of salaried and management staffs have already begun in a number of departments. In flight operations, reductions of salaried and management employees are expected to begin in mid-July. Additionally, Airport Operations and Onboard plan to announce their salaried and management layoffs this week. In total, the number of salaried and management positions at United will be reduced by 1400-1600 people. Our competitors are facing similar decisions in response to this unprecedented environment. At last count, U.S. network carriers had announced plans to remove nearly 300 mainline aircraft from their fleets by the end of 2009 in order to reduce industry capacity. BigJetCity.com |