US Airways cutting flights, jobs by 2010 to stem losses
US Airways, based in Tempe, Arizona, the United States, is cutting about 1,000 jobs (including 200 pilot-jobs) by 2010, terminating its fights from Philadelphia to 5 cities in Europe, as well as cutting back 43.8% daily departures from Las Vegas as a part of the airline’s efforts at ‘restructuring’ to curb losses.
In a memo to the employees, Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of US Airways, said the company “cannot continue to operate unprofitably forever.”
The airline, Doug Parker added, is struggling to make profits amidst a global economy that is slowly improving as well as volatile prices of fuel.
Most of the job cuts will be in Boston, Las Vegas, and LaGuardia Airport in New York, the airline said.
However, none of the 200 pilots, 150 flight attendants, and 600 airport passenger and ramp service workers based at Philadelphia International Airport will lose jobs. Besides, the jobs of all the 600 airport-based mechanics who work on airplane maintenance are to stay.
US Airways, the dominant airline in Philadelphia, will close its crew bases in New York, Boston Las Vegas as well as end all flights to Colorado Springs (Colorado) and Wichita (Kansas). These cuts will leave the air passengers with fewer options.
The airline said it is abandoning its planned Philadelphia-Beijing route, which was initially scheduled to start in 2009 and was then put off to 2010.
In addition, US Airways said that it is suspending flights, in 2010, from Philadelphia International Airport to London’s Gatwick Airport and Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (Britain); to Milan Malpensa Airport (Italy); to Shannon International Airport (Ireland); and to Stockholm International Airport (Sweden). Of these, only the service between Philadelphia and London’s Gatwick Airport was a daily, year-round service. The other 4 services were seasonal ones – between May and October.
According to US Airways, it will fly, on its East Coast shuttle route, smaller Embraer-190 planes between Boston and York.
Between Philadelphia and Boston, the carrier will continue flights almost hourly.
US Airways will cut services from Las Vegas from 64 flights to 36 flights by February 2010, on account of what the airline says high prices of fuel and the continuing weak demand for air travel.
Even as the company is starting to make some improvement in business, Doug Parker, its chairman and chief executive officer, said the memo to the employees, it reported a loss of $80 million for the third quarter of 2009 and expect to suffer yet another big loss in the fourth quarter.
US Airways, the smallest of the so-called ‘legacy’ airlines based in the United States – behind Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines – had suffered losses amounting to $800 million in 2008.
It may be noted that the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had, earlier in October 2009, proposed a fine of $5.4 million against US Airways for having allegedly violated safety and maintenance rules.
US Airways says it employs a total of 4,200 pilots; 6,300 flight attendants; 11,500 airport, gate, baggage and grounds workers; and 3,400 maintenance personnel.
In all, 1,150 pilots and 1,950 flight attendants are based at Philadelphia International Airport.
After the ‘restructuring’ process is completed by 2010, US Airways will operate 99% if its flights to or from its 3 hub cities – Charlotte (North Carolina), Philadelphia, and Phoenix – as well as Reagan National Airport in Washington.
- US Airways posts $865-million loss in third quarter of 2008
- US Airways to resume serving non-alcoholic drinks free of charge on board from March 1, 2009US Airways, the low-cost airline based in Tempe, Arizona, the United States, will resume serving non-alcoholic drinks such as sodas, coffee, tea, juices and bottled water to economy-class passengers free of charge from March 1, 2009. However, the carrier will continue to charge fees for some other items, including in-flight blankets and pillows. Also, US Airways will continue to charge alcoholic drinks at $7 each. US Airways was the only major domestic airline based in the United States that started charging for non-alcoholic drinks, from August 1, 2008 – at the rate of $2 for sodas and juices and $1 for coffee. The carrier had also jacked up prices of beer, wine and cocktails from $5 to $7 from the same date. It may be noted that flight attendants at US Airways had opposed charging passengers for non-alcoholic beverages on the ground that the responsibility for selling them in-flight and dealing with “unhappy passengers” hindered their ability to ensure safety in the cabin. Doug Parker, chief executive officer of US Airways, said in a statement that making passengers pay for sodas, coffee, tea, juices and bottled water had become “a competitive disadvantage” for the airline. US Airways, Parker explained, was compelled to add the fees in August 2008 after the price of aviation turbine fuel skyrocketed to a record $4.36 a gallon in July 2008. The cost of fuel has since dropped by as much as 70%. The statement said US Airways was “committed to its a la carte service style” where passengers pay more to check bags into the hold or for the use of a blanket and pillow. US Airways had earlier said that it expected to earn $400 million to $500 million in 2009 from fees charged on any services beyond the basic fare, including additional costs for select seats and also the plan to sell pillows and blankets in-flight. The fees for non-alcoholic beverage, Doug Parker said in the statement, had become “a focal point that detracts from improved on-time performance and baggage-handling.” Meanwhile, the United States Transportation Department said in a press release that US Airways recorded the best on-time performance in 2008 among the six large US-based airlines that use hub airports as a part of their networks. Earlier, US Airways had ranked either last or near-last in terms of on-time performance.
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