- Japan Third Quarter GDP Jumps; 2010 Growth May Slow
- Analysis: APEC Nations Back Face-Saving Climate Plan
- Shift Into High-Quality Stocks Could Move Market Higher
- Drug Study Questions Effectiveness of Merck's Drugs
- Military Arms Race Dominates Dubai Air Show
- Buffett: I Haven't Bought AMEX Shares in Years
- Disaster Film '2012' Drowns Rivals at Box Office
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: 5 Earnings Reports to Watch Next Week
- CNBC Video: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates - Keeping American Great
- U.S. Stocks Rally for the Second Straight Week
- Dollar is Not Plunging—So 'Calm Down': Market Strategist
- Strategists Say Markets Have More Upside — But How Much?
- Hirschhorn: Risk-Averse Traders
- Roginsky: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Financial Reform
- This Year's Biggest Thanksgiving Leftover: Cash
- TV Series Inks Unique Deal For Fight
- First Time Buyers Rescue Housing: Realtors
MOST SHARED
- U.S. May Wind Up Green With Envy
- Japan Third Quarter GDP Jumps; 2010 Growth May Slow
- Warren Buffett to CNBC: 'I Haven't Bought American Express In Years'
- Disaster Film '2012' Drowns Rivals at Box Office
- The Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner 2009
- For Investors, The New Green Looks To Be White
- Analysis: APEC Nations Back Face-Saving Climate Plan
- Dipping Into Green Investing
- CNBC TRANSCRIPT: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates - Keeping America Great
Text Size 
UAL, parent of United Airlines, said Monday it plans to lay off 950 pilots as it prepares to cut domestic capacity to offset soaring fuel prices.
 |
Jacquelyn Martin / AP United Airlines |
"As we reduce the size of our fleet and take actions companywide to enable United to compete in an environment of record fuel prices, we must take the difficult but necessary step to reduce the number of people we have to run our business," the No. 2 U.S. carrier said in a statement.
The latest layoffs involve nearly 15 percent of United's 6,518 pilots. The carrier has said it plans to cut its staff by 1,400 to 1,600 as it aims to reduce domestic capacity by 14 percent in the fourth quarter.
The airline industry has been battered by record high fuel costs, and major carriers are groping for stability through capacity cuts that enable them to run leaner operations and charge higher fares.
A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents United pilots, was not immediately available for comment.
"We continue discussions with ALPA and all of our unions on ways to mitigate involuntary furloughs, and we are working to notify all of our employee groups about furloughs as soon as we know the impact of our capacity reductions," UAL said.
UAL [UAUA
Loading...
()
], which has 55,221 employees, lost $537 million in the first quarter and has held merger talks with rivals to try to bolster its competitive position amid rising fuel costs. The carrier recently said, however, that it does not plan to merge with another airline but will enter into a global cooperation with Continental Airlines.
UAL's downsizing is consistent with recent steps taken by AMR's American Airlines, which said last month it would cut its domestic capacity by 11 percent or 12 percent in the fourth quarter and eliminate more than 1,000 jobs.
In March, Delta Air Lines [DAL
Loading...
()
], which plans to merge with Northwest Airlines, said it would cut 2,000 jobs through voluntary retirement and reduce domestic capacity by 10 percent this year.
Print
Email
- Where, what, how.
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates spoke to Columbia students, and Buffett made the students a startling offer.
- For the chief of cable company Comcast, growth has been about making deals – generally very large deals.
- Some companies may start using insurance to shift carbon risk from their balance sheets to maybe... yours?
- The president and founder of Genesis Today wants to improve America’s health, and thinks Wal-Mart can help.
- Switzerland's privacy watchdog is taking legal action to force Google to make changes to its Street View service.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes