Southwest Airlines cautions it might furlough 6,800 workers to cut expenses

Southwest Airlines on Thursday stated it might furlough more than 6,800 workers — about 12% of its personnel — mentioning what it called a “lack of meaningful progress” in cost-cutting settlements with labor unions.

Southwest like other airline companies has actually been having a hard time since of the coronavirus pandemic’s terrible influence on flight need. If Southwest continues with task cuts, they would be the very first uncontrolled furloughs in its almost 50 years of flying.

The Dallas-based airline company has actually sent out federally mandated notifications encouraging employees their tasks might be at threat to 6,828 workers, consisting of more than 1,200 pilots, 1,500 flight attendants, 1,110 customer support personnel, and more than 2,500 ramp, freight and other operation personnel.

The furloughs would work either March 15 or April 1, or within 2 weeks of that date, unless the provider reaches cost-cutting arrangements with unions or Congress passes extra help for the sector, the airline company stated.

Such furlough alerting letters are normally provided to employees 60 days ahead of a possible furlough and a minimum of one union, representing the business’s pilots, dismissed the relocation as a working out technique to press workers.

Southwest has actually asked labor groups to accept pay cuts and other terms to prevent furloughs, which some unions have actually bristled at and argued the business did rule out their cost-cutting propositions such as partly paid voluntary leave.

“Today marks a sad milestone in the history of Southwest Airlines,” Jon Weaks, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, the labor union that represents approximately 9,000 pilots at the provider, stated in a video message, which was seen by CNBC. “While this development is not completely surprising, it is incredibly disappointing to our pilots and their families.”