American Airlines brings back 17,500 workers, but doesn’t have work for all of them
Chad Golden hasn’t worked a shift since he was furloughed Oct. 1 from American Airlines, where during the past five years he has handled baggage and performed other duties as a fleet service employee.
But despite this lack of work during the past three months, Golden got a surprise on Christmas Eve — a paycheck.
Golden is among about 17,500 American Airlines workers who got great news just before the holidays. They were told by the airlines they were being brought back from furlough, after Congress approved $15 billion for airlines as part of the pandemic relief act signed into law just before the new year.
The deal, which likely will provide Fort Worth-based American Airlines with roughly $3.5 billion, included back pay for furloughed employees starting Dec. 1. American’s leadership took steps to ensure that many of those employees got their December back pay immediately.
But strangely, with the pandemic still limiting air travel to roughly half of what it was a year ago, many of these returning American Airlines employees don’t have jobs to perform.
Golden, who also received a second paycheck in early January, still hasn’t been notified by the company about when he will be required to report for actual work.
“I haven’t heard anything about me being recalled just yet,” Golden, a Grand Prairie resident, said.
The stimulus funding being provided to airlines is contingent upon them keeping the employees on the payroll through March. So, airlines such as American that are currently flying with about half the seating capacity they had a year ago don’t have enough takeoffs and landings to keep the entire work force busy.
Golden said that, because his furlough included some severance money and he qualified for unemployment benefits during the months he was jobless, he and his fiance have managed to stay current on paying their bills.
But, he said, “It has been a wild ride.”
Long recovery
Tens of thousands of workers at the United States’ major air carriers are getting their jobs back across the nation, because of the federal stimulus funds approved by Congress just before the new year began.
The $15 billion approved just before the new year was in addition to $25 billion in stimulus funding provided to airlines during the spring, at the beginning of the coronavirus shutdown. In that first wave of CARES Act funding, American received about $7 billion in grants and loans.
Airline executives have warned that it will be a long-term recovery, and it could take months for employees to be fully reintegrated back into their work schedules.
Many workers will have to undergo training as they return to work, airline officials said.
In addition to about 17,500 workers who were furloughed Oct. 1, American also eliminated about 1,500 jobs through layoffs and other reductions.
“Bringing nearly 19,000 team members back to work is a complex process and will take time,” Doug Parker, American Airlines Group chief executive officer, and Robert Isom, company president, said in a joint letter to employees. “While pay and benefits will be restored right away, people will be asked to return to the operation in phases.”
Leaner airline
Even after the furloughed employees are back into their routines, American Airlines will still be a much leaner company than it was pre-COVID. The airline now has just under 100,000 employees worldwide, more than 40,000 fewer than a year ago, spokesman Matt Miller said.
During the spring, in the early weeks of the pandemic, American also cut its workforce by an additional 23,500 jobs through voluntary departures, early retirements and long-term leaves of absence.
American is considered the largest employer in North Texas, and prior to the pandemic boasted a work force of about 33,000 just in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Airline officials haven’t yet provided a breakdown of how many of those North Texas jobs have been eliminated, and how many workers the airline has in the region now.
DFW Airport executives have projected that it could be 2022 or 2023 before American and other airlines are back to their pre-COVID volume of takeoffs and landings in North Texas. Fitch Ratings, a credit rating agency, has gone even further and cautioned that it could be 2025 before airport traffic is back to 2019 levels.
And airline schedules for early 2021 seem to bear that out.
In February, American projects that its system capacity will be 43% below the same month a year ago. System capacity is the number of seats available for travelers to occupy during a given time period.
January’s scheduling shows that American’s system capacity will be down about 46% compared to the same month in 2020.
American’s schedule for March hasn’t yet been finalized, a spokesman said.
Eager to work
The stimulus will make it possible for 1,247 pilots to return to work, said Capt. Eric Furguson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 pilots.
“Airlines for America estimates that every airline job generates more than 13 jobs in related fields such as hotels, restaurants, and rental cars,” Ferguson said in an email. “Despite all of the uncertainty of the past few months, we are grateful for the outcome.”
But the company’s stable of flight crews also is much leaner than it used to be.
American had 15,000 pilots before the pandemic, but 1,200 have exited the company permanently and 700 more were placed on voluntary leave in October.
Also, American had 27,000 flight attendants before the pandemic, but 2,700 have since exited the company permanently and 4,500 more went on voluntary leave.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 6:30 AM with the headline "American Airlines brings back 17,500 workers, but doesn’t have work for all of them."
