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July 14, 2009
US Airways Group Inc., the smallest full-fare U.S. carrier, will eliminate 600 airport service and baggage-handling jobs to pare costs after the peak summer travel season ends in September.
US Airways fell short in a bid to shrink the payroll by not filling open positions, Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom said today in a memo to employees. The cuts equal about 1.9 percent of the Tempe, Arizona-based carrier’s workforce.
“We find ourselves with more employees than our operation requires,” Isom wrote. Attrition rates are in the “low single digits,” he said.
The reductions build on US Airways’ request last month for 400 flight attendants to take voluntary leaves as the recession drags the six biggest domestic airlines to a 13 straight months of declining traffic. With business travel down, the industry is slashing fares to keep planes full.
AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, the second- and third-largest U.S. carriers, announced new job cuts in the past month, while Delta Air Lines Inc., the biggest, has said it may trim the workforce.
United plans to eliminate 600 more flight attendant jobs and American will cut 1,600 positions.
US Airways fell 7 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $2.04 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the lowest closing price since March 9. The shares have tumbled 73 percent this year.
Positions being eliminated at US Airways include 340 ticket counter and gate agents, said Valerie Wunder, a spokeswoman.
The rest of the reduction will come from switching some baggage-handling and other ground jobs to outside contractors; closing a frequent-flier club in Las Vegas and pruning positions at one in Phoenix; and trimming positions in the central load planning unit, Isom wrote.
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