American Airlines to lay off 3,100
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FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- American Airlines will lay off 3,123 flight attendants beginning July 1 -- a result of cost-cutting moves and recent labor concession talks.
The airline gave the Association of Professional Flight Attendants formal notice of the furloughs Wednesday.
"Today's announcement by American is indeed very sad for all of us at the APFA," said John Ward, president of the flight attendants' union.
"The news that so many of our co-workers will now face unemployment is another in a long line of very disheartening events of late."
American had recently sent layoff notices to 5,000 of its flight attendants but was able to lower the number of job cuts through voluntary leaves and a reassessment of the airline's labor needs for the summer, said company spokesman Todd Burke, noting layoffs are "always painful."
"As of July 1, 2003, the total number of flight attendants furloughed by American Airlines since October 2001 will be approximately 6,000," a statement from the flight attendants' union said.
Last month, the carrier's employees agreed to cuts that would save the airline $1.8 billion a year over the next six years as part of a cost-cutting effort to avoid bankruptcy. The APFA contributed $340 million to the concessions.
American Airlines' Chief Executive Officer Don Carty resigned last month amid controversial plans to give executives bonuses, as the company struggled to avoid bankruptcy.
