AirTran to lay off up to 480 workers
AirTran Airways said this afternoon that it will eliminate nearly 500 jobs in September, in the latest round of cost cutting forced by record high oil prices.
The Orlando-based airline said it will shed 180 pilots and 300 flight attendants, through a combination of voluntary departures and layoffs. AirTran currently has 1,450 pilots and 2,000 flight attendants.
The staffing cuts will coincide with flight service cuts AirTran has planned beginning in early September, when AirTran says it will shrink its overall capacity by 5 percent. Kevin Healy, AirTran's senior vice president for marketing and planning, said the staff cuts will save AirTran at least $16 million.
The moves come with the entire U.S. airline industry struggling to survive unprecedented fuel costs.
"It's difficult, but it's the appropriate step to take," Healy said. "The key, as we have done in the past, is moving in a way to put ourselves in a position that we can be competitive going forward and not waiting and hoping for things to improve on their own."
Healy said AirTran is still "trying to determine" whether it will layoff employees in other departments. He said it is possible that regular attrition may be enough to avoid layoffs.
AirTran, which alerted employees of the impending layoffs earlier today, made the announcement less than a week after revealing it planned to seek an average 10 percent pay cut across its nearly 9,000-member workforce. Healy said the pay cuts are expected to save AirTran a little under $30 million.
The Orlando-based airline said it will shed 180 pilots and 300 flight attendants, through a combination of voluntary departures and layoffs. AirTran currently has 1,450 pilots and 2,000 flight attendants.
The staffing cuts will coincide with flight service cuts AirTran has planned beginning in early September, when AirTran says it will shrink its overall capacity by 5 percent. Kevin Healy, AirTran's senior vice president for marketing and planning, said the staff cuts will save AirTran at least $16 million.
The moves come with the entire U.S. airline industry struggling to survive unprecedented fuel costs.
"It's difficult, but it's the appropriate step to take," Healy said. "The key, as we have done in the past, is moving in a way to put ourselves in a position that we can be competitive going forward and not waiting and hoping for things to improve on their own."
Healy said AirTran is still "trying to determine" whether it will layoff employees in other departments. He said it is possible that regular attrition may be enough to avoid layoffs.
AirTran, which alerted employees of the impending layoffs earlier today, made the announcement less than a week after revealing it planned to seek an average 10 percent pay cut across its nearly 9,000-member workforce. Healy said the pay cuts are expected to save AirTran a little under $30 million.
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