American Airlines Inc. warned on Wednesday about 13,000 U.S. employees could be pursued in the coming weeks as the pandemic continues to steal travel and government money runs out.
In a letter to employees, American Airlines AAL,
he also criticized the speed of distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and said he expected the lack of demand to continue until the summer.
Any impact on the workplace will take effect on or after April 1, when government payroll aid expires, the airline said in a letter Wednesday.
For almost five weeks in 2021, “we are in a similar situation to 2020,” CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom told employees.
With the expansion of the payroll support program at the end of last year, the company “fully believed that we would be looking at a summer program in which we would fly all our planes and need all the strength of our team. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case, “they said.
“The vaccine is not being distributed as quickly as any of us thought, and new restrictions on international travel that require customers to have a negative COVID-19 test have diminished demand,” they said.
The American is flying at least 45% less in the first quarter than the first quarter of 2019 and, based on current prospects, will not fly all of its planes in the summer as planned, he said.
The furlough announcements, required by law in some areas, will be released on Friday, the company said. They “don’t necessarily equate to furloughs,” he said. The company will work with union leaders “to do everything we can to mitigate the impact on jobs as much as possible,” he said.
The unions are asking Congress to extend the aid until September 30, and the company will support the effort, he said.
The American will also open an early retirement program, with some incentives depending on years of service, and a leave of absence program, he said.
American Airlines shares have fallen 35% in the last 12 months, in contrast to gains of about 18% for the S&P 500 SPX,