United Airlines warns 14,000 staff could be stood down without pay
United Airlines has warned some 14,000 employees could be stood down without pay when a second round of payroll support for airlines in the US expires on 1 April.
The Chicago-based airline recalled 13,000 employees from furlough – a term in the US that means a mandatory suspension without pay – when the fresh payroll package was passed in December.
“Despite ongoing efforts to distribute vaccines, customer demand has not changed much since we recalled those employees,” United Airlines told employees today, adding it was monitoring demand and advocating for continued government support.
Congress approved $15bn in new payroll assistance in December to help keep more than 32,000 airline workers on payrolls through to 31 March, after awarding $25bn in March for passenger airlines in payroll assistance and $25bn in low-cost government loans.
Rival airline American Airlines, which stood down 19,000 workers in October, did not immediately comment on whether it would issue new notices of potential layoffs.
American Airlines $1bn stock sale
Earlier today American Airlines authorised another $1bn stock sale, following an ongoing $1bn offering launched in October to boost liquidity, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday that also detailed its aircraft financing commitments.
Only three of 16 Boeing 737 MAX orders scheduled for delivery through next year have committed financing, and the airline has the right to defer delivery of the remaining 13 until 2023 or 2024, it said.
Previous financing for some of the 737 MAX planes that American was meant to receive in 2020 had expired as Boeing Co froze deliveries during a 20-month safety ban that finally ended in the United States in November.
American Airlines said financing was in place for the 19 Boeing 787 aircraft and 15 Airbus NEOs to be delivered this year, but not for any of the 26 NEO aircraft deliveries scheduled for 2022.