American Airlines Inc. warned about 13,000 U.S. workers on Wednesday that they could be hampered in the next few weeks because the pandemic continues to shrink travel and run out of government money.
In a letter to employees, American Airlines AAL,
also criticized the speed of spread of the COVID-19 vaccine and said he expected the lack of demand to continue in the summer.
The impact of work will take effect on April 1, when the government’s wage assistance expires, the airline said in the letter on Wednesday.
Nearly five weeks to 2021 “we find ourselves in a similar situation to many of 2020,” CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom told employees.
With the extension of the Payroll Support program late last year, the company ‘fully believed that we would be looking at a summer schedule where we would fly all our aircraft and require the full strength of our team. “Unfortunately, this is no longer the case,” they said.
“The vaccine is not spreading as fast as one of us believed, and new restrictions on international travel requiring customers to undergo a negative COVID-19 test have dampened demand.”
American will fly at least 45% less in the first quarter than the first quarter of 2019, and based on the current outlook, it is not planned to fly all of its aircraft in the summer.
The further notices required by law in certain areas will go out on Friday, the company said. They “are not necessarily equal to farms,” he said. The company will work with union leaders “to do everything in our power to minimize the impact on the job,” he said.
Trade unions are appealing to Congress to extend the aid until Sept. 30, and the company will help the effort, he said.
American will also open an early retirement program, with some incentives depending on years of service, and an absence leave program, he said.
Shares of American Airlines have fallen by 35% over the past 12 months, in contrast to rising by about 18% for the S&P 500 index SPX,