US Airways is the latest mainline carrier in the United States to announce capacity reductions. The airline has made public what it calls a "business model transformation," announcing plans to pare its operations, reduce the size of its fleet, and eliminate 1,700 jobs system-wide, including roughly 300 pilots, 400 flight attendants, 800 airport employees and 200 staff and management.Regarding the job cuts, the US Airways announcement said, "For front line employees, the staffing reduction is expected to be handled through attrition throughout the summer. Any necessary furloughs following the summer travel season will be offset as much as possible by voluntary leaves of absence as permitted by the respective labor contracts."
US Airways intends to return 10 aircraft to lessors, and cancel deliveries of two additional aircraft in early 2009. The airline announced, "Aircraft coming out of the fleet include the return of six Boeing 737-300 aircraft by the end of 2008, four Airbus A320 aircraft in the first half of 2009, and the cancellation of leases of two Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft that had been scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2009." Additional fleet reductions are being planned for 2009 and 2010.
The airline will reduce its fourth quarter domestic mainline capacity by six to eight percent on a year-over-year basis, compared to the previously planned two to four percent decrease in domestic mainline capacity in its fourth quarter 2008. Domestic mainline capacity for 2009 is planned to be reduced seven to nine percent from 2008 levels.
