“The United Airlines projected furlough numbers are a gut punch, but they are also the most honest assessment we’ve seen on the state of the industry,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants union, which represents nearly 50,000 workers at 19 airlines, including United.
In a statement, Ms. Nelson called on Congress to extend federal aid “to avoid hundreds of thousands of layoffs from an industry that normally drives economic activity.”
For months, major airlines have been warning workers that they may have to make substantial cuts after the funding dries up, and most have encouraged employees to voluntarily accept pay cuts, buyouts or early retirement. Last week, American Airlines said that it expected to have about 20,000 more employees than it needed this fall, though the airline said that it may not end up furloughing all of those workers.
Even before Congress threw the industry a lifeline in March, United had warned workers that the coronavirus pandemic could force its hand. At a company town hall event that month, Scott Kirby, then the airline’s president and now its chief executive, said that United had two goals: survive the crisis and avoid furloughs. But he said he could not promise workers that their jobs would be secure.
Air travel has rebounded after falling about 96 percent in April, but the recovery has been choppy and is expected to remain uneven. The number of people going through airport security is still down about 75 percent compared with last year. Some experts fear that the numbers could start falling again as infections climb across much of the United States, including in California, Florida and Texas.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/business/united-airlines-furlough-36000.html
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