United to cut around 3,400 management and administrative positions

US carrier United Airlines Holdings is reportedly considering a reduction in management and administrative staff in October.

Reuters reported that the company is planning to cut 3,400 management and administrative positions.

The move is part of broader efforts being taken by the company to deal with the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on travel demand and its operations.

According to an internal memo seen by the news agency, United Airlines Human Resources and Labor Relations executive vice-president Kate Gebo said that a notification will be sent to affected employees in ‘mid to late July’.

The company is also looking at asking employees to plan for voluntary separation.

Gebo was quoted as saying: “We have to acknowledge that there will be serious consequences to our company if we don’t continue to take strong and decisive action, which includes making decisions that none of us ever wanted or expected to make.”

In a separate memo seen by Reuters, pilots were told to prepare for a ‘displacement’ that will affect roughly 30% of 12,250 pilots.

In an email, United spokesman Frank Benenati was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Travel demand is essentially zero for the foreseeable future and, even with federal assistance that covers a portion of our payroll expense through 30 September, we anticipate spending billions of dollars more than we take in for the next several months while continuing to employ 100% of our workforce. That’s not sustainable for any company.”

Last month, United Airlines announced its plans to slash its flights in May by 90% despite accepting payroll assistance from the US Government’s coronavirus bailout package.

The carrier also warned of a further capacity and staffing reduction in June.