United Tells 36,000 Employees of Potential Layoffs; Walks Back August Schedule Increase
1 In a notice to employees earlier Wednesday, United Airlines said that it would be sending WARN Act notices to 35,902 of its approximately 95,000 worldwide staff. Of the nearly 36,000 notices going out, 15,100 are for inflight crews while 11,082 impact airport staff. This number doesn’t include the 30% of management and administrative staff that was told to expect layoffs previously.
The notices inform of possible furloughs beginning October 1 once CARES Act restrictions expire. Not everyone who receives a notice will be furloughed as the airline is still hopeful that some current staff will accept offers of voluntary buyouts or that customer demand will improve. Thus far, only 3,700 employees have taken the early buyout option, and demand… well that’s not looking good either.
After announcing earlier this month that it plans to operate more than 25,000 flights this August — 40% of what it flew in August 2019 — United is backtracking. The airline has filed an 8-K with the SEC showing that it has lowered its plan to 35% of what it flew in August 2019. Even more concerning, United indicated that the airline may hold capacity levels at that rate through the end of the year, though an improvement in demand would obviously change that.
Alaska Plans to Join Oneworld by End of 2020
2 Instead of biding its time during the downturn in demand for air travel during the pandemic, Alaska Airlines has accerated its process of joining the oneworld alliance. The airline now expects to be integrated by the end of 2020.
The new timeline would be about six months faster than previously expected when Alaska announced it would be joining oneworld back in February.
With the way 2020 is going, this is a smart move by Alaska as it seems there’s a 50-50 chance of the world ending by before the year is out. If we’re all gonna go down, might as well do so as a member of an alliance.
American Now Selling Premium Economy on Domestic Aircraft Flying Outside the Americas
3 When American begins flying its A321neo outside of the Americas, it will be selling the premium cabin as Premium Economy instead of Business Class. This has been filed on the aircraft’s first route into the Eastern Hemisphere, Philadelphia to Keflavik (KEF) in Iceland, that resumes on June 3, 2021.
The change was first noticed by View From the Wing. From a product consistency standpoint, this is a welcome move. The domestic premium cabin seat on the A321neo is nearly the same experience as in the airline’s long-haul Premium Economy seat.
Flights on the A321neo within North America will not see the change despite five of those routes — led by Anchorage to Dallas/Fort Worth — being longer than the Iceland flight. It’s unclear if South American flights on domestic aircraft will eventually be re-branded as well. It should be noted that the new policy will align American with Delta, which brands its domestic First Class cabins as Premium Economy only outside of the Americas. And if Delta’s doing it, it must be good, right?
LEVEL Off Into the Sunset: IAG to End LEVEL France
4 Meat Loaf says two out of three ain’t bad, but in this case… it is. IAG — the parent company of British Airways — has decided to close up shop at its low-cost subsidiary, LEVEL France. The decision by IAG comes on the heels of the closing of LEVEL Europe, a Vienna-based LCC which entered insolvency in June. That leaves only LEVEL Spain (which actually has Iberia do the flying) and its paltry pre-pandemic operation from Barcelona to Boston, Buenos Aires, New York/JFK, San Francisco, and Santiago… if it survives.
Unlike LEVEL Europe, IAG seems to be pre-emptively shutting down LEVEL France, an airline that had its origins in BA’s OpenSkies operation. In the end, the airline flew to four cities from Paris/Orly in an economy & premium economy-only configuration. The airline had been flying to the scenic tourist destinations of Guadalupe (PTP), Martinique (FDF), Montreal, and… Newark.
Austrian Airlines Swaps Plane for Train on Domestic Route
5 In order to meet environmental standards in its loan agreement with the Austrian government, Austrian Airlines is scrapping its twice-daily service from its Vienna (VIE) hub to Salzburg (SZG) in the northwestern part of the country.
Beginning July 20, the airline is partnering with Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to offer hourly train service between the two cities from 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. The train journey takes approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, as opposed to the 45 minute flight that currently connects the two cities.
In accepting a $680 million government aid package, Austrian committed to reducing its domestic emissions by 50% by the year 2050. Austrian’s business class passengers can access first-class train accommodation and the ÖBB Lounge. In other words, this will be far nicer than so-called “business class” on a Q400.
All air passengers on the train will have the ability to earn miles on Austrian’s Miles & More program, and will receive a catering voucher which they can use in the ÖBB dining car. Go for the schnitzel, it’s world-class.
Airline Potpourri
- Air Canada’s Aeroplan members no longer have to feel blue, because as of today, they can earn and redeem with Azul Brazilian Airlines.
- Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will launch later this month with service to two cities in Egypt, Alexandria (HBE), and Sohag (HMB).
- AirAsia Japan plans to restart domestic operations on August 1.
- Air Baltic had its €250 million loan from the Latvian government approved by the EU.
- Caribbean Airlines has re-started commercial operations from its Kingston (KIN) hub to New York/JFK. Flights to Miami and Toronto/Pearson will resume in the coming days.
- Ethiopian resumed service to Dubai (DXB) today and will return flying to Djibouti (JIB) on July 17.
- Hi Fly removed the economy seats from several aircraft, including its A380, to create greater cargo capacity.
- LOT is operating two new routes from Budapest (BUD) to Dubrovnik (DBV) in Croatia and Varna (VAR) in Bulgaria.
- United is restarting automatic upgrades for first class.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
Wanna hear a good roof joke? It’s on the house.