"early Out Package"?

Wretched Wrench

Veteran
Apr 21, 2003
1,626
12
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Union officials say more than 115 employees at the American Airlines Kansas City maintenance base will take an early retirement package.

Authorities say the plan includes 13 weeks of pay.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines has been dealing with higher fuel prices as it tries to rein in costs.

Transport Workers Union Local 530 says the early retirements will leave about 224 mechanics and other employees facing involuntary layoffs next month.

Earlier reports indicated 400 union members would be let go.

But local president Gordon Clark says the total was reduced to 340 -- and about 100 salaried employees also will be furloughed.

The K-C-I base has about 16-hundred hourly workers and 250 salaried employees.

Clark says he got his information from management.

A spokeswoman with American couldn't confirm any of the layoff figures.


Copyright 2004 Associated Press.


LINK

Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
 
Wretched Wrench said:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Union officials say more than 115 employees at the American Airlines Kansas City maintenance base will take an early retirement package.

Authorities say the plan includes 13 weeks of pay.

Fort Worth-based American Airlines has been dealing with higher fuel prices as it tries to rein in costs.

Transport Workers Union Local 530 says the early retirements will leave about 224 mechanics and other employees facing involuntary layoffs next month.

Earlier reports indicated 400 union members would be let go.

But local president Gordon Clark says the total was reduced to 340 -- and about 100 salaried employees also will be furloughed.

The K-C-I base has about 16-hundred hourly workers and 250 salaried employees.

Clark says he got his information from management.

A spokeswoman with American couldn't confirm any of the layoff figures.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
LINK

Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
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IF they offered 5 and 5 like they did a few years ago, there would be a stampede towards the exits.
 
Here is a little more in-depth reporting:

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116 at airline agree to early retirement

By RANDOLPH HEASTER

The Kansas City Star


A total of 116 American Airlines employees at Kansas City's maintenance base have agreed to retire early with incentives, reducing the number of involuntary union layoffs coming next month, a union official said.

However, about 100 salaried employees at the base also will be furloughed by the airline, representing about 30 percent of that work force, according to Gordon Clark, president of Transport Workers Union Local 530.

Clark said the 116 have decided to retire and accept a severance package of 13 weeks' pay. All those accepting are over the age of 60, Clark said, and their retirement benefits will not be affected.

That will leave about 224 American mechanics and other employees who will be laid off involuntarily, according to Clark, who got the information from company management. Although initial reports earlier this month indicated that 400 union members would be let go, Clark said the actual figure was reduced to 340. The base currently employs about 1,600 hourly workers and about 250 salaried workers.

Sonja Whitemon, an American spokeswoman, said she could not confirm any of the layoff figures provided by Clark.

“We're still working on our plans, and they haven't been finalized,†she said.

American announced last month that it planned to lay off 1,100 mechanics and pilots systemwide as the carrier struggled to return to profitability. The cuts came as the airline faced skyrocketing fuel prices, leading to a reduced 2005 flight schedule and fleet.

American said it will reduce the equivalent of 15 narrow-body aircraft from its fleet next year. That translates into the elimination of 360 hourly jobs in Kansas City. Clark said the cuts will be across the board in terms of jobs, including mechanics, warehouse and storage workers, facility maintenance people and aircraft cleaners.

Initially, American planned to eliminate at least 800 jobs at the Kansas City overhaul base, but Clark said the Transport Workers Union leadership at American's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, helped get that number reduced sharply.

The involuntary layoffs were further reduced by the retirements taken this week.

“We went from the 800 figure to about 225 people who will be let go Dec. 3,†Clark said. “I believe there's been a little success in the face of what is a negative situation.â€

The hundreds of local employees whose jobs were saved from this round of layoffs will do maintenance checks on aircraft being pulled from American's fleet. Reconfiguring the seating of other aircraft could also be part of the work involved.

However, once that work is completed by the middle of next year, Clark said, it's possible those jobs will be eliminated unless more maintenance work is found.

American is pursuing third-party work with other carriers, Clark said.

“It's a tough environment in the airline industry, and it's going to get worse before it gets better,†Clark said. “But I'm still optimistic that we will be successful in finding third-party maintenance work.â€

Meanwhile, American and the city of Kansas City continue to work on a new lease agreement to operate the overhaul base's wide-body hangar. In exchange for public incentives to upgrade the facility, American has agreed to employ at least 700 workers at the base to do maintenance on its Boeing 767s and 757s.


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First glance

• A total of 116 workers at American Airlines' Kansas City maintenance base have agreed to retire early with incentives, reducing the layoffs among union workers next month.

• However, about 100 salaried employees at the base also will be furloughed by the airline.


Kansas City Star article