raffy
Aug 21, 02, 4:31 pm
(08-21) 12:00 PDT ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) --
US Airways plans to reduce its flight schedule by about 13 percent, from 1,550 daily departures to 1,350, as part of a restructuring plan designed to allow the airline to emerge from bankruptcy as a profitable carrier.
Most flights will be eliminated next month, with the rest to be eliminated by the end of the year, the airline said in a recorded message to employees.
US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest carrier, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. The company, which had already reduced its capacity by 23 percent after the Sept. 11 attacks, had warned employees and customers that further reductions were likely.
The company did not discuss which flights would be eliminated. But the Arlington-based carrier has already said it will continue service to all but one of the 204 cities it serves, the vast majority of which are east of the Mississippi.
The reduction in flights will necessitate layoffs, said president and chief executive David Siegel. The exact number is unclear, but US Airways' pilots anticipate losing about 500 of 4,387 remaining jobs by early 2003 because of reduced flying as the airline cuts its schedule. More than 1,000 pilots were laid off after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the company reduced capacity by nearly 25 percent.
Siegel met Wednesday with US Airways employees in Charlotte, the airline's largest hub.
"Some employees clearly were not happy while others seemed to be saying, `Let's move on and try to fix things,"' said Steve Hearn, president of the Charlotte local of the Association of Flight Attendants. "I'd say the mood overall was positive."
Hearn, who has said he anticipates 500 of the airline's 7,604 flight attendants could lose their jobs, said Siegel did not try to hide the fact that the airline needs to shrink before it can become profitable.
The company, in its most recent bankruptcy filings, said it has about 40,000 full and part-time employees.
"It is painful to me to eliminate just one job," Siegel said Tuesday to employees. "These are difficult yet necessary decisions that will help return our company to profitability."
US Airways plans to reduce its flight schedule by about 13 percent, from 1,550 daily departures to 1,350, as part of a restructuring plan designed to allow the airline to emerge from bankruptcy as a profitable carrier.
Most flights will be eliminated next month, with the rest to be eliminated by the end of the year, the airline said in a recorded message to employees.
US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest carrier, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month. The company, which had already reduced its capacity by 23 percent after the Sept. 11 attacks, had warned employees and customers that further reductions were likely.
The company did not discuss which flights would be eliminated. But the Arlington-based carrier has already said it will continue service to all but one of the 204 cities it serves, the vast majority of which are east of the Mississippi.
The reduction in flights will necessitate layoffs, said president and chief executive David Siegel. The exact number is unclear, but US Airways' pilots anticipate losing about 500 of 4,387 remaining jobs by early 2003 because of reduced flying as the airline cuts its schedule. More than 1,000 pilots were laid off after the Sept. 11 attacks, when the company reduced capacity by nearly 25 percent.
Siegel met Wednesday with US Airways employees in Charlotte, the airline's largest hub.
"Some employees clearly were not happy while others seemed to be saying, `Let's move on and try to fix things,"' said Steve Hearn, president of the Charlotte local of the Association of Flight Attendants. "I'd say the mood overall was positive."
Hearn, who has said he anticipates 500 of the airline's 7,604 flight attendants could lose their jobs, said Siegel did not try to hide the fact that the airline needs to shrink before it can become profitable.
The company, in its most recent bankruptcy filings, said it has about 40,000 full and part-time employees.
"It is painful to me to eliminate just one job," Siegel said Tuesday to employees. "These are difficult yet necessary decisions that will help return our company to profitability."