United Airlines to Cut 950 Pilot Jobs as Seating Capacity Falls

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



United Airlines to Cut 950 Pilot Jobs as Seating Capacity Falls

By Mary Schlangenstein

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the world's second-largest carrier, will lay off 950 pilots, or about 14 percent of the total, as it shrinks its jet fleet to save on fuel.

The Chicago-based airline today advised the Air Line Pilots Association of its plans, spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said in an interview today. Furloughs will start in September and extend into 2009 as United retires 100 planes.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aL1U9escz6HA&refer=home

[liberal N proud]

1. And why is seating capacity falling?

Because oil prices are driving them out of business.

It is an ugly downward spiral that the bu$h regime and their greasy friends have set us down.

[caledesi]

5. Well said! NT

[havocmom]

2. wonder how close to retirement they all were

United workers (and some past workers, probably) have a web site to air problems with the way the airline is run, how employees are treated. It is often worth a look.

http://www.untied.com

[marmar]

3. Untied.....I like that.

I remember when there were all those complaints about customer service several years ago, and the sites that sprang up:

deltasucks.com
northworst.com
americantragedy.com
cantinental.com
usscare.com

[havocmom]

4. Peeved workers picked the site name for likelyhood many would find it by accident

then re-think using United Dollars to donuts that was the reason for untied. ;)

Keep pissing off the people who actually make product or provide service and fail. <-- lesson unlearned by the CEOs and top floor scumbags.

[DemoTex]

6. Ironically, UAL had been gearing up to hire about 1000 new pilots.

The "Fair Treatment of Experienced Pilots Act" (increasing the mandatory airline pilot retirement age from 60 to 65) has certainly been a help for UAL in this respect. Too bad most of those remaining on the UAL pilot seniority list will probably never see retirement.

I hear through the grapevine that it's hard to find an airline pilot nowadays who ever even thought about voting for Bu$h. Funny. So many of my fellow pilots used to call me Captain Comrade just for being a Democrat. But not ha-ha funny.