American Airlines plans to lay off 1,200 nonunion workers by the end of the summer as it closes an Arizona reservation center and outsources skycaps and some customer service and gate agents as part of its corporate restructuring.
On Wednesday, the Fort Worth-based airline outlined plans to reduce annual employee costs by $95 million for 10,000 nonunion workers in a group covering agents, representatives and planners.The cuts include changes to pay and work rules to be implemented within two to four months. They are separate from the 13,000 layoffs of pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and ground workers that American proposed in February.As American works to emerge from bankruptcy, it has said it wants all union and nonunion workers and management to reduce employee-related costs by 20 percent, for $1.25 billion in annual savings. American's parent, AMR Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November."The decisions in reshaping these departments -- including, in some cases, outsourcing, creating different tiers of work, closing some operations and moving some work to home-based positions -- were not made lightly," American spokesman Bruce Hicks said. "While very difficult, all of these approaches are designed to preserve tens of thousands of jobs and return American to a sustainable, profitable airline."The airline said it plans to close its southwestern reservations office, which employs about 680 representatives in Tucson, Ariz. These employees will be allowed to work at home or transfer to another office.American said it expects to close Admirals Clubs at airports in Kansas City, Mo.; Washington, D.C.; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and Panama City; and eliminate positions in its premium traveler clubs.It also plans to outsource agents at seven U.S. airports -- Hartford, Conn.; Columbus, Ohio; Memphis; Ontario and Sacramento, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and Reno, Nev. -- and in Calgary and Vancouver, Canada.American also expects to outsource all domestic cargo operations.For all workers in this group, American plans to replace pensions with a defined-contribution plan and implement profit sharing. Their vacation time and holidays will also be reduced.Since these workers are not unionized, American's changes do not need court approval. At a court hearing that begins Monday, the airline will argue that it should be allowed to reject its union contracts and implement cost reductions on those employee groups.Andrea Ahles, 817-390-7631Twitter: @Sky_TalkHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
