Airlines see largest employment drop in five years

Full-time employment at Frontier Airlines declined 15.7 percent between December 2007 and the same month on 2008, the steepest drop of 14 large and low-cost airlines, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Wednesday.

The overall full-time employment decrease of seven low-cost airlines over that period, including Denver-based Frontier, was 3.3 percent, the BTS said in its monthly “Passenger Airline Employment Data.”

For seven larger, “network” airlines, the decrease was 6.3 percent.

Frontier had 4,397 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2008, putting it in the middle of the seven low-cost carriers on the BTS list. Southwest Airlines (NSYE: LUV) was tops with 35,499 workers; Virgin America had the fewest, 1,259.

BTS counted two part-time employees as a single full-time worker.

Frontier is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Virgin America had the greatest increase of employees — 71.3 percent — between December 2007 and December 2008 of the seven low-cost airlines, followed by Allegiant (14.2 percent). AirTran was the only low-cost airline besides Frontier with a loss of employees (9.1 percent).

Among seven “network” airlines, United saw the biggest employee reduction, 12.7 percent, between the two Decembers, BTS said, followed by Northwest Airlines (6.9 percent) and Delta Air Lines (6.2 percent). Northwest and Delta (NYSE: DAL) are combining operations.

Overall — among large, low-cost and smaller regional airlines — employment levels experienced their largest year-to-year decrease since December 2003, BTS said.

Employment levels dropped 6.7 percent in December 2008 compared to the same month in 2007, the sixth straight decline in full-time equivalent rates compared to the same month the previous year.

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4400.

Frontier, United cutting 606 jobs

The airlines say record fuel costs are forcing the Denver layoffs.
By Greg Griffin The Denver Post

United Airlines will lay off 150 workers in Denver over the next two weeks, and Frontier Airlines will begin laying off 456 people in September, the companies told state officials.
The cuts are the first layoffs in Denver resulting from recent capacity cuts announced by the airlines, which are faltering because of record fuel costs.
The layoffs probably are not the last that the airlines plan to make, based on the scheduled reductions coming this summer and fall. Company representatives, however, would not say whether more cuts are planned.
Frontier's reductions include 155 pilots, but it is unclear whether the bankrupt airline will need to furlough that many of its captains and first officers.
Chicago-based United plans to trim systemwide capacity by 14 percent this year, while Frontier will reduce its capacity by 17 percent this fall.
"This is part of the actions we are taking companywide to enable us to compete in an environment of record fuel prices," said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. "We must take these difficult but necessary steps to reduce the number of people we have to run our business."
United said it will lay off 100 baggage handlers and 50 customer-service representatives at Denver International Airport over the next two weeks.
The company has announced plans to furlough 950 pilots and lay off 1,400 to 1,600 salaried and management employees companywide.
United employs 5,300 Denver-based workers.
Frontier said it will lay off 456 workers starting Sept. 1 and has sent letters either directly to them or to their unions. Pilots will be laid off in two waves: on Sept. 1 and Oct. 1.
"The unanticipated and unprecedented rise in the price of fuel has forced Frontier to take these steps in an attempt to remain competitive in this challenging environment," Kevin Stocker, Frontier's senior director of human relations, wrote to the department of labor in a June 27 letter.
Most of the positions affected are pilots and flight attendants, said Bill Thoennes, spokesman for the state labor department.
The airline notified the Frontier Airline Pilots Association that it would furlough 155 pilots, said union chief John Stemmler. That is more than might be expected because 17 percent of Frontier's 718 pilots is 122. Stemmler said he hopes Frontier is erring on the side of caution.
"With fuel prices where they are and the industry in the turmoil it's in, all bets are off. Everybody's in survival mode," Stemmler said. "Most pilots are really pragmatic people. By the time you get to this level of the industry, you're not surprised to see it."
Frontier filed for bankruptcy protection in April and lost $38 million in April and May.
Frontier has said its staff cuts will be proportional to the capacity reductions. Roughly 5,000 of its more than 6,000 workers are Denver-based, which means as many as 850 local employees could be laid off.
The company was required by federal law to notify the state 60 days in advance of a substantial layoff at one location, said Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Purves.
All of the 456 positions affected are at DIA. Frontier has additional office employees in the area.
Also Monday, Frontier requested an extension in the time it has to restructure and formulate a business plan in bankruptcy without competing plans from creditors.
Its "exclusivity period" ends Aug. 8. The company asked a judge for a 180-day extension, explaining that the case is complex and the airline did not have time to prepare in advance for its April 10 filing.
Greg Griffin: 303-954-1241 or ggriffin@denverpost.com