United Airlines announced in a correspondence sent to employees today that it has to furlough 16.370 employees starting from October 1, when the payroll support of the Federal Government in USA will expire.
In fact, United had reported a surplus of about 36,000 employees in July, however the number dropped to 16,000 with voluntary retirement and unpaid leaves.
Among the 16,370 employees the company plans to furlough, there are 6,900 flight attendants, 2,850 pilots, 2,260 airport operations employees, 2,000 maintenance technicians and 1,400 management and administrative staff.
Last week, another US-based airline, American Airlines, announced that it was planning to cut 19,000 jobs.
