A Boeing 777-222(ER) guest aircraft coming from the United Airlines removing at Hong Kong International Airport on August 08 2018 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Marcio Rodrigo | Getty Images
United Airlines prepares to close 3 of its 4 foreign flight attendant bases in October as worldwide flight continues to battle due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chicago-based airline company will close bases in Hong Kong, Tokyo’s Narita airport and Frankfurt, according to a business memo seen by CNBC. United stated about 840 flight attendants operate in the 3 bases that are closing.
“This was certainly a very difficult decision to make, and we recognize that closing any base places a hardship on those who live near those locations,” John Slater, United’s senior vice president of inflight services, stated in the memo. “In the current and future environment, we simply are not able to sustain an Inflight Base at these locations.”
Flight attendants at those places will be provided the opportunity to move to U.S. bases, depending upon work eligibility, the memo stated.
United likewise has a flight attendant base for London’s Heathrow Airport and a base for U.S. area Guam.
“While no other base modifications are expected [at] this time, we’ll continue to assess the practicality of all places based upon the network schedule, federal government travel constraints and remediation of need,” stated Slater.
The United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents the airline company’s approximately 24,000 cabin team members called the statement “a shock for all of us” and stated “it will create tremendous uncertainty.”
