American Expects to Furlough or Layoff up to 19,000 on October 1
1 In a memo to employees today, American Airlines’ Doug Parker and Robert Isom said that the airline is bracing to layoff or furlough an additional 19,000 employees when CARES Act funding expires provided an extension is not passed by Congress.
The duo said that American will have at least 40,000 fewer employees on October 1 than it did prior to the pandemic. That staggering number includes 12,500 staff who have come to terms on a buyout or early retirement and another 11,000 who will be taking an unpaid leave of absence.
This memo, in addition to the proposed service cuts by American, is another shot across the bow to lawmakers to speed up the potential passage of an extension to the CARES Act. Unfortunately it also details the precarious situation for employees across the industry with just weeks left until the funding runs out.
Delta Plans to Furlough 2,000 Pilots in October
2 The good news just rolls on…Delta Air Lines is currently planning to furlough 1,941 pilots when CARES Act funding expires on September 30. This is actually an approximately 20% decrease over what the airline had previously warned. This is due to a higher number of early retirements than expected, allowing it to retain almost 600 pilots.
John Laughter, Delta’s ironically-named senior vice president of flight operations, told pilots in a memo Monday, “we are simply overstaffed, and we are faced with an incredibly difficult decision.”
Delta will need approximately 9,500 pilots to operate its peak schedule next summer, but at this rate will have in excess of 11,000 pilots on the payroll. The current plan to have all 11,000 pilots in an over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble on pay per view to see who could continue their employment was rightfully shot down by Delta’s corporate HR team.
San Francisco Debuts First U.S. Airport Rapid Testing Site
3 San Francisco International Airport has become the first U.S. airport to offer rapid testing on-site for the virus. Currently, the test is only available for airport workers and flight crews, not passengers. Anchorage had the first U.S. airport to offer testing on-site, but SFO’s test can return a result in fewer than 15 minutes.
The testing site is located in a ground floor of the International Terminal. The roll-out of the test was kept to just workers and crew to ensure the reliability of the results, as well as the process of administering the test before making it available to travelers at the airport.
The test is offered in partnership with Dignity Health-GoHealth Urgent Care. Both the airport and the healthcare provider proudly announced that the nasal swab returns a result in about 13 minutes. Unlike the rest of the airport, it functions just fine when fog rolls in.
Virgin Australia Bondholders & Creditors Left Holding the Bag
4 Bain Capital, the new owner of Virgin Australia, has announced the intended payouts to the airline’s creditors and bondholders, and most of them will be left with their hands out waiting for more.
Bondholders are expected to receive between 9 and 13 percent of their outstanding debts, assuming they sign-off on the deal next week. If they do not, the sale is still expected to go through, and payments could be a low as 3 cents on the dollar.
Most notably, the airline’s various shareholders will get nothing in return for their investments. Etihad, Singapore Airlines, HNA, and Nashan Group all owned about 20% of the airline and will get zilch back. We can only hope there are some parting gifts for them backstage to soften the blow.
SWISS to Offer Rail Connections in Geneva
5 SWISS has found a solution to its reduction in domestic services as it is now offering codeshare opportunities on Swiss Rail to help connecting international passengers get to the western part of the country.
Pre-pandemic, SWISS operated up to 10 daily flight from Geneva to Zurich. But with daily service down to four flights per day, it has left many passengers with long layovers en route to Zurich and other locations west of Geneva.
SWISS is now putting its code on up to 10 trains a day on the three hour train ride to Zurich. While that is considerably longer than the 50-minute flight, it’s far more convenient that a multi-hour layover in Geneva and comes with the advantage of arriving in downtown Zurich. Delays are also less likely as the trains run with the precision of a Swiss watch, or as they call it in Switzerland…a watch.
Airline Potpourri
- airBaltic is delaying delivery of 28 A220s until 2024.
- Avianca and other Colombian airlines are continuing to increase domestic operations but are not yet returning to international service.
- Croatia Airlines is cancelling its current A320neo order.
- Finnair has completed a sale and leaseback agreement for one of its A350 aircraft.
- Gulf Air has taken delivery of its first A321Neo.
- Iberia has retired its last Airbus 340. Spanish fans of hair dryer engines are sad.
- LOT is adding once-weekly service to Wroclaw (WRO) from its Budapest hub.
- Surinam Airways is looking to start service from Guyana (GEO) to New York/JFK.
Andrew’s Moment of Levity
A child asked me today for the definition of procrastinate. I told him I’d tell him later.