United Makes "Aggressive" Job, Plane Cuts

Nation's Second-Largest Carrier Will Slash Up To 1,100 Employees And 70 Airplanes

(AP)  United Airlines said Wednesday that it's cutting up to 1,100 more jobs, removing an additional 70 fuel-guzzling airplanes from its fleet and slashing domestic capacity as it tries to cope with spiraling fuel prices.

The nation's No. 2 carrier said it plans to cut an additional 900 to 1,100 salaried, contract and management employees by the end of the year, in addition to 500 previously announced job reductions. The combined reductions mean the airline is cutting nearly 3 percent of its 55,000 workers worldwide.

Officials said the "aggressive" moves are designed to the help the subsidiary of UAL Corp. weather an "unprecedented fuel environment." Crude oil futures prices peaked at a record above $135 a barrel nearly two weeks ago and airline fuel prices have been rocketing higher as well.

"This environment demands that we and the industry act decisively and responsibly," Glenn Tilton, United's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. "At United, we continue to do the right work to reduce costs and increase revenue to respond to record fuel costs and the challenging economic environment."

United said it plans to ground its entire fleet of 94 Boeing B737s as well as six of the company's 747s - its oldest and least fuel-efficient planes. It previously said it was going to mothball 30 of the jets. It is also scrapping it's coach-only "Ted" service and reconfiguring those planes to include first-class seats.

And the Chicago-based carrier will cut mainline domestic capacity by 17 to 18 percent in 2009, while also scaling back international capacity by 4 to 5 percent.

"The decision to dramatically reduce our capacity profile, particularly in the domestic marketplace, while over time eliminating a fleet type, is a significant step leading to a more effective and efficient operating fleet for United in the years ahead, while improving our customer experience and reliability," Chief Operating Officer John Tague said in a statement.

The nation's airlines are struggling amid the record-high fuel prices and slashing capacity and jobs while charging customers extra fees.

American Airlines announced last month that it would cut workers and slash its domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter, after the peak summer season is over. The carrier was previously planning a 4.6 percent cut.

And the subsidiary of AMR Corp. said it would charge passengers $15 for the first checked bag.

UAL shares, which have plummeted this spring, rose 43 cents, or 5 percent, to $8.96 in morning trading Wednesday.

[trenticus-2009]

Can''t wait to fly Virgin American! They have all the cool stuff like hotdealoutlet.com

[trenticus-2009]

United sux!

[payasyougo]

Hey Pelosi,

I feel a bail-out coming. How about a "rescue the airlines" bill that contains a dollar to be split between all the airlines, a $400 per flight passenger tax credit, $1.2B additional to the food stamp program and $20M to your alma mater study the effects of high fuel prices on the economy. You know you''ll get the signatures of everyone that signed that "farm bill".

[enriquecaliente]

DRILL HERE DRILL NOW PAY LESS...GOT THAT YOU PATHETIC LIBS.

Republitard, if you think that drilling here now will change the price of oil, boy are you STUPID.

[enriquecaliente]

I''m all for doing what has to be done to save the company, so long as layoffs of Senior Executives with pay-cuts on the CEO, CFO and everyone else in the upper crust are included.

It''s aways been strange to me how the people who do actually do the heavy lifting are always the ones to get cut.

[msay3]

our luggage will not be dropped, but will continue on to another destination.

(as it usually does now)

Posted by NAUcoming4U at 02:35 PM : Jun 04, 2008
----------------------------------------
Of course! Some things never change...LOL

[mexinvasion]

Just make sure the CEO gets the biggest bonus possible.

[navyjimfl]

I don''t know how these airline folks deal with a career that is always overshadowed by looming layoffs.....no pay raises and even pay reductions just to keep your job at best......seems like a tough industry

[rbburnerjr]

Send the planes to Mexico and China! The jobs are already there!!

[naucoming4u]

Maybe United should provide passengers with their own parachutes (for a nominal fee, of course) and then kick them out of the plane when they are over the destination city....

Posted by msay3 at 02:20 PM : Jun 04, 2008
..............

I''m sure they are studying that concept right now as we speak!

However, our luggage will not be dropped, but will continue on to another destination.

(as it usually does now)

[msay3]

Maybe United should provide passengers with their own parachutes (for a nominal fee, of course) and then kick them out of the plane when they are over the destination city....

[adele57]

People do have to understand one thing though, it is NOT the refineries that make the money, it is the companies that DRILL the oil. If the refinaery doesn''t have oil fields also, then they are not making money per barrel. They have to pay the going rate for the oil ($135/barrel), add in the $8-10 to process that barrel and divide by the 42 gallons you get per barrel and that is what it costs to make the gas. If they sell it at that amount they make no profit at all yet still have to pay the workers their pay. Everyone is complaining about the rafineries maing tons of money, but that is not true, it is the oil drilling that makes the money and not all refineries have their own oil fields

[credibility2]

At what point will the government finally take an immediate notice to the way the cost of fuel is negatively impacting our economy and do something about the out of control situation? Presumably there has been an $11/barrel drop in the price of crude (May of this year) due to decreased consumer demand, yet it has yet to show up in comparatively decreased prices at the pump. This is very suspicious and definitely price manipulation.

[haoli25]

They should start with those 90 year old sky waitresses.