United plans 1,100 more furloughs on its way to 7,000
MINNEAPOLIS _ United Airlines plans to furlough 1,088 workers at bases around the country, according to layoff notices and the unions that represent the workers.
The nation's third-largest airline also plans to close maintenance facilities at the Newark, New York-LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports on Jan. 11.
Chicago-based United has been working for several months toward reducing its headcount by 7,000 positions as it trims the amount of flying it does. It's been using a combination of leaves, buyouts, and furloughs to eliminate those jobs. The latest furlough plans are part of that 7,000 total, which also includes plans to lay off roughly 1,500 office and management workers.
United told workers in October that it plans to close maintenance facilities at Newark, LaGuardia, and Philadelphia, and said much of that work would shift to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
United also told workers it would close hangars in Boston and JFK, although some maintenance would still be done in those locations. It said growing international departures would mean some growth in activity at Washington Dulles airport.
The 1,088 job cuts would include some 490 ramp and customer service workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, spokesman Joseph Tiberi said on Wednesday. That includes 253 at Chicago O'Hare and 153 in San Francisco around Jan. 25, and 84 at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 3.
United also notified the state of California that it plans to furlough 598 San Francisco mechanics around Jan. 11. That was a revision from a previously-disclosed plan to furlough 414 this month.
"These previously-announced layoffs are difficult but necessary actions that we must take company-wide that will enable United to compete in the challenging economic environment," spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said.
United mechanics are represented by the Teamsters. The head of the union's airline division, David Bourne, is scheduled to meet with United executives on Dec. 11 and 12 to see if the number of job cuts can be reduced.
United's flight attendants avoided involuntary furloughs because enough of them took leaves, early retirement, or other voluntary measures.
United and other airlines have been reducing the flying they do. On Wednesday United reported that it cut November capacity by 14.2 percent, but its traffic fell faster, by 17 percent.
Shares of United parent UAL Corp. rose 28 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $9.92 on Wednesday.