Delta Warns Pilots of Possible Furloughs
27 June 2020 - 1:25PM
Dow Jones News
By Alison Sider
Delta Air Lines Inc. will send notices next week to over 2,500
pilots warning of potential furloughs as travel demand is still
languishing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline wrote in a
letter Friday.
Delta and the union that represents its pilots reached a
tentative agreement on the terms of a voluntary retirement package
for the airline's pilots in an effort to reduce the number who are
forced to leave.
But recovery may be at least two years away, John Laughter,
Delta's senior vice president of flight operations, wrote to pilots
Friday evening.
"Early retirements alone likely won't be enough to avoid pilot
furloughs altogether," Mr. Laughter wrote. "Even with the increased
travel demand we've seen in recent weeks, we expect revenue to be
at only 25 percent of what it was last summer."
The airline and the union are also negotiating a potential
agreement that could avoid furloughs altogether for two years, but
Mr. Laughter said the airline wanted to notify the 2,558 pilots at
risk of being cut under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act, known as the WARN Act, to let them know of the
possibility.
CNBC earlier reported the notices.
Delta has retired some fleet types altogether to conserve cash
and has parked hundreds of jets due to reduced demand, leaving it
with more pilots than it needs. Still, airlines have been trying to
avoid letting pilots go, which triggers costly retraining and can
make it more difficult for carriers to ramp back up when demand
does rebound.
Airlines must keep all their workers on the payroll through the
end of September under the terms of the $25 billion in federal aid
they received earlier this year when the pandemic first took hold
and brought travel demand to a near halt. Most airlines, including
Delta, have cautioned workers they would have to cut staff when
Oct. 1 arrives. Other carriers are offering similar early
retirement options to their employees.
Unions representing aviation employees wrote to congressional
leaders this week advocating that the payroll support funding be
extended another six months, until March 31, 2021.
Delta has 7,900 pilots eligible for the early retirement offer,
which includes partial pay for three years or until age 65, as well
as health and travel benefits.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 26, 2020 23:10 ET (03:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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