UAL possible furlough....

[Kristie]

http://www.planebuzz.com/2008/06/uni...ark_up_to.html

United Airlines To Park Up to 70 Aircraft, Behead Ted, and Announce Headquarters' Layoffs

Our informed sources tell us this afternoon (hey, I'm on Pacific time) that we should hear more details Tuesday on United's plans to contract.

On the cutting board (and I know this is going to upset Cranky Flier immeasurably) will be Theodore, better known as yet another tried and then discarded airline within an airline adventure. Yes, you all know the adventure as "Ted."

Secondly, we're told that the airline will announce the grounding of at least 70 aircraft.

Layoffs? Did someone say layoffs? (A nod to Coach Jim Mora there...)

Yes. We're hearing at least 1500 folks are going to be on the short end of pink slips at UAUA headquarters.

Not exactly sure how this will impact the pilots and if they'll end up furloughing but if some mergers don't go through in the near future, word on the street is UAL could close shop by xmas. I'm hoping that word isn't factual but things are still not looking up in the industry and if they don't change with costs going the way they are... the industry is going to continue to be in a world of hurt for longer than is expected.

BTW, UAL and USAirway talks ended last week meaning no merger....

[Brenda]

this is so sad. Just what do you do after a furlough in todays day? You can pretty much forget about getting your job back any time soon.

[AnnaRose]

My Aunt worked for UA for 13 years. After 9/11 she got furloughed. She is still furloughed. She pretty much has given up on it and works at a doctor's office now. I have been exposed to the industry now for about 2 years, and I think I am just starting to understand how unstable it is. Spirit Airlines may be furloughing/displacing up to 242 pilots in the next month or two. My BF flies for them. He left ASA right before upgrading to CA to fly for Spirit, and now he will probably be out a job. Its really sad.

[pilotwife38]

That is horrible. I hope that is just a rumor. We have a family friend who flys for UAL and he lives in a very expensive area in CA. I know that would mean major changes for them .

Tonya

[rgphib]

The guy that DH got his 737 type with went to UAL in April after leaving Air Wisconsin because he was afraid they were going to go under (that was when we weren't expecting class dates with SWA until Jan of 2009). He was told in class that they would probably be furloughed by the end of the year.....luckily SWA ramped up training and they are now going to class in 2 weeks (I can't believe it is so soon)....

DH interned for UAL in 1998 and couldn't wait to work there...that was when it was the place to be....10 years later and its barely surviving.

[amelia]

Wow, I really hope that doesn't happen.

btw: what happened to Ted? I saw one of the planes fly over the other and I wondered if United still did Ted. I hadn't noticed one way or the other.

[madlibs]

From The Wall Street Journal:

UAL Plans Major Fleet Reduction
To Cope With Surging Fuel Prices

By SUSAN CAREY
June 3, 2008 10:42 p.m.

United Airlines parent UAL Corp. on Wednesday is expected to announce it will cut its 460-aircraft mainline fleet by another 70 jetliners by the end of next year. The move will help the company cope with surging fuel expenses but also lead to a large but indeterminate number of furloughs of its unionized workforce and a major reduction in routes or daily flight frequencies operated, said people familiar with the matter.
A week after the nation's No. 2 airline by traffic rejected a plan to merge with US Airways Group Inc., UAL promised to take further steps as a standalone carrier to cope with industry conditions that now amount to a crisis. UAL already has said it would reduce its capacity -- seats on offer -- by a double-digit percentage by the fourth quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007.
But with fuel so costly, many routes no longer are profitable even as fares continued to be pushed higher by the industry. And older aircraft, which are less fuel-efficient, are an increasing liability. AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier, recently announced a sizeable capacity reduction.
Some routes already have come out of United's published schedules. For instance, United later this year is dropping its flights from Chicago to Anchorage and from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Many smaller, domestic routes are being cut back in terms of numbers of daily flight frequencies or by a reduction of United mainline flights and a substitution of flights by the airline's regional affiliates.
UAL plans to announce on Wednesday the removal of 64 more Boeing Co. 737s from its fleet by the end of next year, on top of 30 737s it already announced it would retire, said people familiar with the matter. The Chicago Tribune first reported the fleet reduction on its Web site Tuesday. UAL has 460 aircraft in its mainline fleet; its commuter affiliates operate another couple hundred smaller feeder aircraft.
The 64 Boeing 737-300s, which carry 123 passengers, have an average age of 19 years, according to the company's annual report. A majority are leased rather than owned. UAL already has said it plans to retire 30 737-500s, which seat 108 passengers. All those planes are owned instead of leased. The average age of those aircraft is 16 years.
In addition, Chicago-based UAL plans to pare six of its jumbo 747s from the fleet, said people familiar with the situation. United has 30 of that type, the majority owned rather than leased. The flagship 747s, four-engine, long-haul planes, serve some of the carrier's signature routes, primarily in Asia and Australia.
The fleet reductions will be explained to UAL's 55,000 employees on Wednesday. People familiar with the matter said the company will announce additional reductions of salaried and management workers, on top of the 500 or so jobs it recently said it would cut. News about reductions of unionized positions -- pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, reservationists, ramp workers and airport agents -- was expected to come later, said these people.
United is expected to rid itself of its "Ted" sub-branded service that serves domestic leisure destinations with 56 all-coach A320 aircraft. The company dreamed up Ted in the early days of its bankruptcy case, which ran from late 2002 to early 2006, as a way of reducing costs on its most competitive domestic routes by cramming more seats on the planes by doing away with first-class cabins.
Instead, the airline will put first-class cabins back on some of those planes, bowing to pressure from its premium passengers who didn't like flying coach to Sunbelt destinations, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
In spite of the fleet reductions, UAL continues to have owned aircraft that are unencumbered by loans and could be used as collateral for future fundraising. The company has said it could raise $3 billion with assets including planes, foreign routes, takeoff and landing slots and other collateral.
Other big U.S. airlines are expected to announce further capacity reductions in the coming days and weeks, as low-fare carriers continue to temper their growth plans and defer planned deliveries of new planes. Soaring fuel prices are expected to plunge all U.S. carriers by Southwest Airlines Co. deeply into the red this year and some analysts expect multiple bankruptcies later this year or in 2009 as the industry tries to cope with runaway oil prices.
__________________

[ccbegay]

I cringe every time I read a news update...only the best for the pilots and families...

[Mrs.Alchemist]

Ugh. Yuck!

[Rebes]

Originally Posted by amelia

btw: what happened to Ted? I saw one of the planes fly over the other and I wondered if United still did Ted. I hadn't noticed one way or the other.

Ted is still around, my friend is a UAL FA, and she flies both UAL and Ted planes out of Dulles.