Thu, May 07, 2020 page10

• United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar Airways announce plans to slash jobs

  • AFP, NEW YORK and LONDON
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  United Airlines Holdings Inc plans to lay off about 30 percent of its managers as the COVID-19 pandemic slows global air travel sharply, the US carrier’s operations director Greg Hart said in a memo.

  The airline is also planning to eliminate thousands of pilot positions, while the cuts amid executives would amount to about 3,450 jobs, Hart wrote.

  “Unfortunately, in the coming weeks and months we expect to be faced with the need to right size our frontline workforce to match demand,” he wrote, without giving further details.

  

  A United Airlines Airbus A319-100 taxis at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

  Photo: AFP

  A source familiar with the matter said a third of United’s 12,250 pilots might have to leave the company.

  United received about US$5 billion from the US government as part of a massive US$2.2 trillion stimulus package intended to help industries hit by the coronavirus downturn.

  Under the terms of the funding, the airline must not make layoffs before Sept. 30, but the company has made it clear that once that date passes, cuts are necessary.

  “Even with a federal government grant that covers a portion of our payroll expense through September 30, we anticipate spending billions of dollars more than we take in for the next several months, while continuing to employ 100 percent of our workforce. That’s not sustainable for any company,” Hart wrote in his memo.

  In another memo, United’s human resources director Kate Gebo said workers facing layoff would be informed by the middle of July.

  Employees leaving voluntarily would receive a severance package, part of which would be in cash, but that offer would not be available after Oct. 1, she said.

  In the UK, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd is to cut more than 3,000 jobs — about a third of staff — as the pandemic grounds planes worldwide, the British carrier part-owned by tycoon Richard Branson announced on Tuesday.

  It comes one week after British Airways PLC announced plans to slash up to 12,000 jobs because of the COVID-19 fallout.

  Virgin said it was obliged to make its own cuts to preserve its financial future, adding that it was in talks with the UK government about potential support.

  “For the airline to emerge from the crisis, regrettably it must reduce the number of people employed and today the company is announcing a planned reduction of 3,150 jobs across all functions,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.

  Virgin CEO Shai Weiss said it was “crucial” the airline returned to profit next year.

  “After 9/11 and the global financial crisis, we took similar painful measures, but fortunately many members of our team were back flying with us within a couple of years,” Weiss said.

  “Depending on how long the pandemic lasts and the period of time our planes are grounded for, hopefully the same will happen this time,” he added.

  Virgin said it would restructure company operations as a result of the job losses, including pausing flights in and out of London’s Gatwick Airport.

  Virgin said it would switch the flights to London’s Heathrow Airport, “with the intention of retaining its slot portfolio at London Gatwick, so it can return in line with customer demand.”

  Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is planning to cut a significant number of jobs and told cabin crew to prepare for redundancies, according to a company notice seen by Reuters.

  The state-owned airline, one of few global carriers still operating scheduled services, said in March it was burning through its cash reserves and would eventually seek government aid.

  “We have to face a new reality, where many borders are closed, rendering many of our destinations closed and aircraft grounded as a result, with no foreseeable outlook for immediate, positive change,” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said in the notice to cabin crew.

  “The truth is, we simply cannot sustain the current numbers and we need to make a substantial number of jobs redundant — inclusive of Cabin Crew,” he wrote.

  A Qatar Airways spokesman confirmed a number of roles were being made redundant due to the impact of COVID-19.

  Neither the notice or the spokesman said how many jobs would be cut.

  Qatar Airways Group, which counts the airline among its assets, had 46,684 employees at the end of its last reported financial year in March last year.

  Additional reporting by Reuters
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