Fred Business News - American Airlines says it could cut 900 flight attendant jobs as it reduces flights to cope with record-high fuel costs.
The Fort Worth, Tex.-based airline expects to reduce jobs for pilots and mechanics too, but it hasn't released numbers yet.
American, the nation's largest carrier, said Wednesday that job cuts were necessary "to overcome near-term challenges and secure our company's long-term future."
In May, American announced it would cut domestic capacity by 11% to 12% later this year, retire some planes and cut an unspecified number of jobs.
Federal law requires employers to give 60 days' notice of major layoffs, and officials of the flight attendants' union said they received a notice Wednesday of job reductions that could start Aug. 31.
Airlines and union officials said they would try to reduce layoffs through attrition, or by employees voluntarily taking leaves of absence or sharing jobs.
American has about 18,000 active flight attendants, so 900 jobs represents 5% of the ranks.
"We've all been sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for a number," said Frank Bastien, a spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. "Most of us were pretty pleased it wasn't higher."
Flight attendants had feared more job losses after the company said last week it would reduce management and support-staff jobs by 8%. American has about 82,000 employees.
American said it reached an agreement with the union to offer voluntary measures such as leaves of absence to U.S.-based flight attendants aged 50 and older with at least 15 years of service. The airline said it struck a similar deal with the Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics and bag handlers.
Source: Cnn.com
About Fred: Fred is president of The I Team Organization. With a back ground in agriculture Fred has lead many successful business ventures.
