United to Close Seattle Flight Attendant Base, Displaces 264

United Airlines will cease to maintain its base for flight attendants at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport by the end of January 2015. The airline’s decision displaces 264 crew members.

According to a report from The Seattle Times, United Airlines informed the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) on Tuesday that the airline will close its flight attendant base at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on January 30, 2015.

In a statement to the AFA, United said maintaining the SEA base “simply does not make economic sense.” The carrier promised the 264 flight attendants affected by its decision the option of relocating to the base at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy told the Times the closing of the SEA base does not mean the airline is planning cutbacks in service at SEA. “We’re not announcing any changes to our flights going forward,” McCarthy said. “We still have a commitment to Seattle and will still fly there.”

Flight attendants who don’t wish to relocate to SFO have a couple of other options.

April Moss, a United flight attendant and AFA local secretary, told the Times that it’s common for crew members to fly standby on the airline to get to work. “I don’t want to move. I’ll have to commute,” she said.

Eligible flight attendants also have the option of simply walking away from the company and receiving a $100,000 buyout from the airline, which is offering the severance incentive as part of an ongoing effort to shed at least 2,100 of its 23,000 flight attendants.

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