Voltman480
Newbie
Just on the evening news....AA will be laying off 400 in Kansas City. 
400 M & E Layoffs In Kansas City
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WingNaPrayer
Veteran
That's odd. You'd think something like that would be in AMR's official company statements and/or press releases . . . but it's not.
Gee, and I was wondering how they were going to make up for their pension short-falls.
***** ***** *****
American Airlines to slash 400 jobs in KC, union says
By RANDOLPH HEASTER The Kansas City Star
Rocked by soaring fuel prices and cutthroat ticket-price competition, American Airlines will cut about 400 workers at its Kansas City maintenance base next month, a union official said.
Gordon Clark, president of Transport Workers Union Local 530, said employees at the massive facility at Kansas City International Airport were informed of the cutbacks Wednesday afternoon.
Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., parent of American, reported a steep quarterly loss early Wednesday and later said operational cuts would lead to layoffs throughout its system.
American declined to comment on how many workers could lose their jobs at the Kansas City overhaul base, which currently employs about 1,850 people.
However, Clark said about 400 employees would be let go, and the company tentatively has set their final workday for Nov. 27. Clark said American briefly considered cutting more than twice that many jobs in Kansas City before union officials met with the company.
“The whole workforce will be affected, but the majority will be maintenance employees,†Clark said, noting there will be less work for that group after American pulls more than a dozen aircraft from its fleet early next year.
AMR posted a net loss of $214 million, or $1.33 a share, on $4.76 billion in revenues for the three months ended Sept. 30. Higher fuel prices, lower fares and hurricanes in the Southeast contributed to the loss, said Gerard Arpey, AMR's chairman and chief executive.
The continuing losses — haunting almost every major player in the airline industry — mean American plans to cut more jobs systemwide and will reduce its fleet and domestic schedule in 2005. Arpey said American's fuel costs this year would be $1.2 billion higher than during 2003.
Arpey declined to specify which employees would be affected by layoffs, saying only that the cuts will be across the board and include management. Work groups will be officially informed after final decisions are made.
“We will endure further layoffs, but we don't have complete numbers yet,†Arpey said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts. “After we announce them internally, we will make them public.â€
An American spokeswoman confirmed the layoffs would affect the work force at the Kansas City overhaul base. But she declined to provide a specific figure.
“Unfortunately, some of them (American employees in Kansas City) will be impacted by the changes,†said Sonja Whitemon, an American spokeswoman. “We know there will likely be some layoffs.â€
Whitemon said American was still working with the leaders of the Transport Workers Union to try to minimize the impact on its membership. The union has about 1,616 members who work for American at the Kansas City overhaul base.
Employment at the overhaul base, which opened in 1957, peaked at 5,200 in the late 1960s and stood at 4,500 as recently as 1990. Since then, however, base employment has been steadily shrinking as first Trans World Airlines and now American struggled to make money.
Clark said American initially was looking at the possibility of eliminating 900 jobs at the overhaul base, which American bought as part of its acquisition of bankrupt TWA in 2001. American also operates maintenance facilities at its corporate headquarters in Fort Worth and in Tulsa, Okla.
“We were successful in holding discussions with some high-level management people, including the chief financial officer,†Clark said. “We looked at every possible way to save as many people as possible. Unfortunately, maintenance in Kansas City and St. Louis took the brunt of the cuts.â€
Clark said about 500 jobs that were being considered for cuts were preserved for now as American agreed to do its maintenance checks on aircraft being pulled from its fleet in Kansas City.
“If the economy turns around, these planes would easily be returned to the fleet,†Clark said. “Over half of the (900) people we expected to be laid off will at least have work through June of next year.â€
Despite the looming job cuts, airline and city officials said both sides continued working toward a long-term lease agreement that would keep American operating part of the city-owned facility at KCI.
Last year, American and Kansas City reached preliminary agreement on a 25-year lease to continue operating the wide-body hangar for American's biggest aircraft. The airline also agreed to continue working on narrow-body aircraft through 2005.
In exchange for American keeping the base, the city agreed to provide $85 million in incentives, mainly through revenue bonds, to upgrade the facility. The incentives are maintained as long as American keeps at least 700 people employed at the base.
If 400 workers are furloughed next month, American would have between 1,400 and 1,500 employees at the facility.
American's Kansas City employees make roughly $55,000 a year.
Union officials and airline analysts agreed that American had little choice but to make cuts in the current economy, which is defined by oil trading at more than $50 a barrel and rock-bottom prices offered by competing airlines.
Two major airlines remain in bankruptcy, including US Airways filing its second bankruptcy last month. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines hovers on the verge of bankruptcy as major carriers struggle to compete with discount carriers with lower labor costs.
“Other than a few airlines that can hedge fuel prices, everybody else has to pay the going rate,†Clark said. “Then you have carriers in bankruptcy that are forcing ticket prices down, which everybody has to match. I don't believe it's any intention of American to make these cuts as a way to get rid of Kansas City and St. Louis. It's totally being driven by the economy.â€
Arpey said in the case of American, which has significant operations in the Southeast, recent hurricanes also have hurt business.
Mike Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an aviation consulting firm, said the airlines must keep cutting costs as long as fuel prices remain at unprecedented highs.
“This fuel thing is every bit as (economically) devastating as 9-11 was,†Boyd said. “I know American and other airlines made big cuts last year, but all bets are off now. They'll continue to be looking for more areas to economize and become more efficient.â€
Unless fuel prices drop and airlines can begin to charge more, Boyd said facilities like American's Kansas City overhaul base would remain potential targets for cutbacks.
“American's already got facilities they're upgrading and making more efficient in Fort Worth and Tulsa,†he said. “When the dust settles and if there's going to be an odd man out, it's going to be Kansas City.â€
Still, Clark has hopes that American can better utilize the Kansas City overhaul base. American has hired a consultant to examine the prospects for doing third-party maintenance work there.
“Our salvation is the economy picking back up, fuel prices dropping, and generating third-party work,†he said.
Gee, and I was wondering how they were going to make up for their pension short-falls.
***** ***** *****
American Airlines to slash 400 jobs in KC, union says
By RANDOLPH HEASTER The Kansas City Star
Rocked by soaring fuel prices and cutthroat ticket-price competition, American Airlines will cut about 400 workers at its Kansas City maintenance base next month, a union official said.
Gordon Clark, president of Transport Workers Union Local 530, said employees at the massive facility at Kansas City International Airport were informed of the cutbacks Wednesday afternoon.
Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., parent of American, reported a steep quarterly loss early Wednesday and later said operational cuts would lead to layoffs throughout its system.
American declined to comment on how many workers could lose their jobs at the Kansas City overhaul base, which currently employs about 1,850 people.
However, Clark said about 400 employees would be let go, and the company tentatively has set their final workday for Nov. 27. Clark said American briefly considered cutting more than twice that many jobs in Kansas City before union officials met with the company.
“The whole workforce will be affected, but the majority will be maintenance employees,†Clark said, noting there will be less work for that group after American pulls more than a dozen aircraft from its fleet early next year.
AMR posted a net loss of $214 million, or $1.33 a share, on $4.76 billion in revenues for the three months ended Sept. 30. Higher fuel prices, lower fares and hurricanes in the Southeast contributed to the loss, said Gerard Arpey, AMR's chairman and chief executive.
The continuing losses — haunting almost every major player in the airline industry — mean American plans to cut more jobs systemwide and will reduce its fleet and domestic schedule in 2005. Arpey said American's fuel costs this year would be $1.2 billion higher than during 2003.
Arpey declined to specify which employees would be affected by layoffs, saying only that the cuts will be across the board and include management. Work groups will be officially informed after final decisions are made.
“We will endure further layoffs, but we don't have complete numbers yet,†Arpey said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts. “After we announce them internally, we will make them public.â€
An American spokeswoman confirmed the layoffs would affect the work force at the Kansas City overhaul base. But she declined to provide a specific figure.
“Unfortunately, some of them (American employees in Kansas City) will be impacted by the changes,†said Sonja Whitemon, an American spokeswoman. “We know there will likely be some layoffs.â€
Whitemon said American was still working with the leaders of the Transport Workers Union to try to minimize the impact on its membership. The union has about 1,616 members who work for American at the Kansas City overhaul base.
Employment at the overhaul base, which opened in 1957, peaked at 5,200 in the late 1960s and stood at 4,500 as recently as 1990. Since then, however, base employment has been steadily shrinking as first Trans World Airlines and now American struggled to make money.
Clark said American initially was looking at the possibility of eliminating 900 jobs at the overhaul base, which American bought as part of its acquisition of bankrupt TWA in 2001. American also operates maintenance facilities at its corporate headquarters in Fort Worth and in Tulsa, Okla.
“We were successful in holding discussions with some high-level management people, including the chief financial officer,†Clark said. “We looked at every possible way to save as many people as possible. Unfortunately, maintenance in Kansas City and St. Louis took the brunt of the cuts.â€
Clark said about 500 jobs that were being considered for cuts were preserved for now as American agreed to do its maintenance checks on aircraft being pulled from its fleet in Kansas City.
“If the economy turns around, these planes would easily be returned to the fleet,†Clark said. “Over half of the (900) people we expected to be laid off will at least have work through June of next year.â€
Despite the looming job cuts, airline and city officials said both sides continued working toward a long-term lease agreement that would keep American operating part of the city-owned facility at KCI.
Last year, American and Kansas City reached preliminary agreement on a 25-year lease to continue operating the wide-body hangar for American's biggest aircraft. The airline also agreed to continue working on narrow-body aircraft through 2005.
In exchange for American keeping the base, the city agreed to provide $85 million in incentives, mainly through revenue bonds, to upgrade the facility. The incentives are maintained as long as American keeps at least 700 people employed at the base.
If 400 workers are furloughed next month, American would have between 1,400 and 1,500 employees at the facility.
American's Kansas City employees make roughly $55,000 a year.
Union officials and airline analysts agreed that American had little choice but to make cuts in the current economy, which is defined by oil trading at more than $50 a barrel and rock-bottom prices offered by competing airlines.
Two major airlines remain in bankruptcy, including US Airways filing its second bankruptcy last month. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines hovers on the verge of bankruptcy as major carriers struggle to compete with discount carriers with lower labor costs.
“Other than a few airlines that can hedge fuel prices, everybody else has to pay the going rate,†Clark said. “Then you have carriers in bankruptcy that are forcing ticket prices down, which everybody has to match. I don't believe it's any intention of American to make these cuts as a way to get rid of Kansas City and St. Louis. It's totally being driven by the economy.â€
Arpey said in the case of American, which has significant operations in the Southeast, recent hurricanes also have hurt business.
Mike Boyd, president of the Boyd Group, an aviation consulting firm, said the airlines must keep cutting costs as long as fuel prices remain at unprecedented highs.
“This fuel thing is every bit as (economically) devastating as 9-11 was,†Boyd said. “I know American and other airlines made big cuts last year, but all bets are off now. They'll continue to be looking for more areas to economize and become more efficient.â€
Unless fuel prices drop and airlines can begin to charge more, Boyd said facilities like American's Kansas City overhaul base would remain potential targets for cutbacks.
“American's already got facilities they're upgrading and making more efficient in Fort Worth and Tulsa,†he said. “When the dust settles and if there's going to be an odd man out, it's going to be Kansas City.â€
Still, Clark has hopes that American can better utilize the Kansas City overhaul base. American has hired a consultant to examine the prospects for doing third-party maintenance work there.
“Our salvation is the economy picking back up, fuel prices dropping, and generating third-party work,†he said.
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Voltman480
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WingNaPrayer said:
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Voltman480
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SkyLiner said:
Thank You for your kind words.....we will move on. And the Professionalism you speak of will be shared wherever we end up. Our love and pride in aviation will only make this industry better wherever we go. It is a shame it was not embraced by our step father, but we feel that it was/is their loss. As I have said before......we have done all that was ever asked, but in the end we realize that really, in the scheme of it all...we never really had a chance.
Wretched Wrench
Veteran
- Apr 21, 2003
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Voltman480 said:
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........perhaps AA management perceived that TUL employees were more loyal (or more something). There will be another representation election next year. Or maybe AA perceived that the city of Tulsa could be more hospitable. AA is notorious for playing one station or base against the other, as well as one city against the other. All your hard work went unrecognized and unrewarded.
At any rate, you guys have my sympathy for the bad hand you have been dealt.
Decision 2004
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- Mar 12, 2004
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I was told today that within the next 90 days, AA will be 9,300 employees smaller than two weeks ago.
That is roughly a 10% overall headcount reduction.
That is roughly a 10% overall headcount reduction.
WingNaPrayer
Veteran
I don't doubt it. The traveling public however, will be wondering just who is left to run the airline! They always get rid of the ones they need most . . . first!
Sad, but you have to wonder how many recalls are going to get re-furloughed in the months to come. My heart goes out to those that have been waiting so long for that call only to get it and return to bad news. I am becoming very discourage with hte outlook of our (AA) future.
WingNaPrayer
Veteran
From a company announcement:
The Kansas City Maintenance Base will be reduced by between 300 and 400 maintenance positions and St. Louis Line Maintenance by between 200 and 250. We expect furlough notices to be issued commencing mid-November. Additional reductions will occur in Line Maintenance throughout the system, but they have not yet been determined.
We anticipate furloughing up to 450 pilots by the summer of 2005. The first 125 will be furloughed on Jan. 6.
We know there will be downsizing at some of our airports, and we are working through which locations and how many Customer Service positions will be impacted. We will know more when the 2005 schedule is finalized.
Due to attrition, retirements, and planned flying levels, we plan to make Flight Attendant adjustments through voluntary leaves beginning in January.
In addition to almost 400 management and support staff positions eliminated so far this year, we will make further staffing reductions, which we are now evaluating, as a result of these initiatives.
Although we do not yet have all the answers you are looking for, we think it is important to tell you what we know at this time. As more information becomes available, we will quickly share it with you.
Thank you for your continuing commitment to our customers and our company through this difficult time.
- Jeff Brundage, Senior Vice President-Human Resources
The Kansas City Maintenance Base will be reduced by between 300 and 400 maintenance positions and St. Louis Line Maintenance by between 200 and 250. We expect furlough notices to be issued commencing mid-November. Additional reductions will occur in Line Maintenance throughout the system, but they have not yet been determined.
We anticipate furloughing up to 450 pilots by the summer of 2005. The first 125 will be furloughed on Jan. 6.
We know there will be downsizing at some of our airports, and we are working through which locations and how many Customer Service positions will be impacted. We will know more when the 2005 schedule is finalized.
Due to attrition, retirements, and planned flying levels, we plan to make Flight Attendant adjustments through voluntary leaves beginning in January.
In addition to almost 400 management and support staff positions eliminated so far this year, we will make further staffing reductions, which we are now evaluating, as a result of these initiatives.
Although we do not yet have all the answers you are looking for, we think it is important to tell you what we know at this time. As more information becomes available, we will quickly share it with you.
Thank you for your continuing commitment to our customers and our company through this difficult time.
- Jeff Brundage, Senior Vice President-Human Resources
NewHampshire Black Bears
Veteran
- Aug 20, 2002
- 10,154
- 681
MiAAmi said:
=================================================
miAAmi,
I respectfully disagree with you(AA future).
True, these are(at the very least) trying times, but these are trying times for EVERY carrier.
Mabey this fuel crisis, will turn out to be the real "commercial airline destiny".
(very similiar to a game of airline "chicken")
If I'm correct, "my money's on AA" !!!!!!!!(And believe me, I'm the LAST guy to take a drink from the "kool aid cup")
NH/BB's
WingNaPrayer
Veteran
Well, going into 2005 with only a 3% fuel hedge . . . I'm not inclined to agree.
On a heavier note: what always pisses me off is how this airline just LOVES to yank people's jobs out from under them just in time for the holidays. They do it every time. Sort of like making damn sure your holidays with your families are completely destroyed, since they no longer have the employee to kick around, they may as well get in one last huge kick in the crotch!
Gawd I hate corporate america! . . . and there are people who actually still support Dubya. Go figger!
On a heavier note: what always pisses me off is how this airline just LOVES to yank people's jobs out from under them just in time for the holidays. They do it every time. Sort of like making damn sure your holidays with your families are completely destroyed, since they no longer have the employee to kick around, they may as well get in one last huge kick in the crotch!
Gawd I hate corporate america! . . . and there are people who actually still support Dubya. Go figger!
WingNaPrayer
Veteran
I guess if that's your mentality on the issue, then there is no sense arguing it, is there.
I think my point was quite clear, THIS whitehouse is letting the legacy carriers get away with just about anything they want right now. I didn't say if my point was right, or if it was wrong, just that it was my point!
I think my point was quite clear, THIS whitehouse is letting the legacy carriers get away with just about anything they want right now. I didn't say if my point was right, or if it was wrong, just that it was my point!
