Business

UAL to furlough another 600 flight attendants

Posted June 21, 2009 11:00 pm

Associated Press

United Airlines said on Monday it needs to furlough another 600 flight attendants this fall because of the slow economy.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said another factor is significantly lower-than-usual turnover from retirements or resignations.

Last year, United reduced its flight attendant staff by 1,550. They were all volunteers, and some of them have returned to work because the furloughs were temporary. McCarthy said United is hoping to get volunteers for this round of furloughs, too. The company currently has about 13,500 active flight attendants.

The furloughs are to begin Aug. 31. Voluntary furloughs would run from 10 to 30 months. Any forced furloughs would be indefinite.

Chicago-based United and other big airlines have been shrinking as the recession has hurt business travel. United"s May traffic was down 12.3 percent from May 2008.

Shares of United parent UAL Corp. fell 24 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $3.61 in afternoon trading.

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