United says demand for travel is 'essentially zero' and signals layoffs
NEW YORK - United Airlines is making the deepest cuts yet announced by a US airline, reducing its May and June schedule by about 90% of what was originally planned at the start of the year, Chris Isidore reports for CNN. Continue reading original article.
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
April 16, 2020 -By accepting federal financial assistance for COVID-19 relief, United and other carriers are not allowed to layoff any staff for six months, but CNN reports that UA is "preparing to cut staff as soon as Oct. 1"
"The challenging economic outlook means we have some tough decisions ahead as we plan for our airline, and our overall workforce, to be smaller than it is today, starting as early as October 1," United Airlines executives said in a letter to staff. "Travel demand is essentially zero and shows no sign of improving in the near-term. Less than 200,000 people flew with us during the first two weeks of April this year, compared to more than 6 million during the same time in 2019, a 97 percent drop. And we expect to fly fewer people during the entire month of May than we did on a single day in May 2019."
Related: Boeing considers dividend cut, layoffs amid cash drain
Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
