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UAL to lay off approx. 825 customer-service employees, ramp workers and other airport staffers

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Source: Media Article

Date: Dec 03, 2004

Source: Rocky Mountain News
Author: David Kesmodel

United Airlines is laying off about 825 customer-service employees, ramp workers and other airport staffers - including about 210 in Denver - as part of a plan to slash overhead and step out of bankruptcy.

The giant carrier said about 250 of the employees will be given the opportunity to fill other jobs in its system.
 
Workers at Denver International Airport, United's second-largest hub after Chicago O'Hare, received notice of the job cuts Thursday.

The furloughs, which take effect next month, come as the Chicago- based carrier is negotiating with its unions to reduce wages and benefits and make productivity improvements that would yield $725 million in annual savings.

The company also is expected to terminate its four employee pension plans, a move that would provide more than $600 million in annual savings from 2005 through 2010.

United spokeswoman Jean Medina said the cuts in airport staffing are part of the company's ongoing effort to lower its expenses. But she said they're also part of a process of making head count better match "the needs of the business as we move into a slower travel season."

Some furloughed workers might be recalled in busier travel periods, she said.

The job cuts affect workers at 18 airports in the United States.

"Some full-time employees may move to part time as we continue to match staff levels to workloads by time of day," she said.

Joe Tiberi, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists, the union representing customer-service and ramp workers, said the union had not been given final layoff numbers from the company and would not comment until it had received them. The union, the company's largest, represents more than 20,000 active United employees.

The union and other labor groups at United have been bracing for the prospect of more job cuts in the wake of a U.S. board's decision in June to deny the carrier's bid for more than $1 billion in loan guarantees. The guarantees would have backed a $2 billion private-financing package designed to lift United out of Chapter 11 protection.

As of Thursday, the carrier employed about 61,800 people worldwide, including more than 6,000 in Denver. It has pared about 40,000 jobs since the 2001 terrorist attacks, including about 4,000 in Denver.

United, the operating unit of UAL Corp., is the dominant carrier at DIA. The company filed for bankruptcy two years ago this month and has racked up more than $9 billion in net losses since the end of 2000.

The airline aims to emerge from bankruptcy as soon as next July, it said in documents it recently provided to the union representing its mechanics, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association.

United job cuts

  • The carrier is cutting the jobs of about 825 customer-service workers and other airport staffers.
  • About 210 jobs will be cut in Denver.
  • United will offer jobs in other departments and cities to about 250 of the workers affected across the U.S.

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