Wed, Jan 27, 2010
Staff Reduction To Begin At The End Of February
American Airlines says it will
furlough 175 pilots beginning at the end of next month and
continuing through the first quarter of 2010, the result of a
number of economic factors placing financial stress on the
airline.
American made the announcement Monday. In a prepared statement,
the airline said "The impact of the economy and reduction in
capacity over the last 18 months, coupled with lower than expected
pilot attrition, has resulted in a pilot surplus. This was a
painful but necessary decision, as this staffing adjustment will
better align the size of our pilot organization with the size of
our current operation.
The company has been working with the Allied Pilots Association
to develop possible furlough mitigation solutions to ease this
transition and will continue to do so. We are also pleased that we
were able to work with the APA to move up the furlough date by one
day to achieve eligibility for subsidized COBRA medical benefits
for the first group of furloughed pilots. American values and
respects the professionalism, commitment and contributions of our
pilots and regrets having to make this difficult decision."
Allied Pilots Association spokesman
Gregg Overman told The Dallas Morning News "There's no other way to
put it – it's terrible news. One pilot furlough is one too
many, and we already have nearly 1,900 remaining on furlough."
American said pilots that are furloughed could be recalled if
the airline expands or there are openings due to attrition. But,
the airline said, some of the pilots about to be grounded had just
recently been recalled. "That's just a terrible situation to find
yourself in," Overman said.
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