Today we’re learning about the third airline issuing WARN notices or “Worker Adjustment or Retraining Notice,” to employees. ExpressJet and Republic have already done so. American Airlines has warned 37% of flight attendants and 18% of their pilots that their jobs are in danger of furlough on October 1, 2020.
October 1, 2020 will be a dark day in the airline industry. September 30 the funding from the CARES Act expires and airlines, not the government, will be taking over control of their payroll. A condition of accepting funding was keeping the workforce intact until September 30. Therefore, October 1, 2020 airlines are already planning layoffs.
AA’s notice also went out to: 36% dispatch employees, 30% passenger service agents, 26% Fleet service, 23% reservation agents, 22% maintenance, 15% flight crew training and 7% engineers for training simulators.
The 37% of AA flight attendants WARNed equates to 9,950 flight attendants, and the headcount for pilots peaks at 2500. Fleet Services received the second highest total of notices issued at 4500.
