Hawaii’s largest carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, today announced more than 1,000 job cuts as COVID-19 continues to ravage travel demand and lockdowns fuel economic distress.
Peter Ingram, Hawaiian Airlines president and CEO, announced today in a letter to employees that there will be more than 1,000 the new job cuts. The letter explained that furlough notices would be sent today to flight attendants and pilots, reducing the airline’s flight attendant workforce by 816 jobs. Of that number 341 are involuntary. The airline will also reduce its pilots by 173 of which 101 are involuntary.
In a couple of weeks around mid-September, Hawaiian Airlines will be sending notices to union members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU). The airlines will reduce IAM workers by about 1,034 jobs and TWU workers by 18.
Ingram has been in the aviation industry for nearly 3 decades and said he has seen his share of tough times with most of those being at Hawaiian Airlines.
He said: “I haven’t seen anything in that time that compares to the way that this pandemic has hobbled our business. We’re forced to take steps now that just a few months ago were unthinkable. I’m sure for many of you there is sadness, some disbelief, and anxiety for the future. I share those emotions and more.”
The airline CEO said they were hoping for another round through the federal payroll support program, but that has not happened, nor has travel demand gone up.
When Hawaiian announced a few weeks ago that it would begin downsizing, Ingram said at the time that “the company would survive, but not as we were, not for a while.” Today, he reiterated that he believed the airline is going to survive through these troubled times and will once again thrive.
– eTurboNews | Trends | Travel News
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