NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- United Airlines and Queens-based JetBlue said Wednesday they are cutting domestic flights in order to offset losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
United said Wednesday that starting in April it will reduce passenger-carrying capacity 20% on international routes and 10% in the U.S. United officials said they will temporarily ground an unspecified number of planes.
JetBlue, meanwhile, said that it was cutting capacity by approximately 5% "in the near term to address the fall in demand" because of coronavirus and said it is in the midst of determining if more cuts are needed.
JetBlue such moves are "aimed at preserving cash" including "delaying or canceling upcoming events and meetings" and "reducing hiring for frontline and support center positions." It is also considering voluntary time-off programs and is "limiting non-essential spending."
The cuts were announced shortly after several airline CEOs met at the White House with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The administration is seeking the airlines' help in tracing travelers who might have come in contact with people ill with coronavirus.
The virus "is affecting the airline business, as it would," Trump said after the meeting. "A lot of people are staying in our country, and they're shopping and using our hotels in this country. So from that standpoint, I think probably there is a positive impact, but there is also an impact on overseas travel, which will be fairly substantial."
United officials said they don't plan to abandon service to any U.S. cities, but they will eliminate some routes as part of the 10% cut in the April schedule for domestic service. For example, the airline will stop flying from Chicago to Eugene, Oregon, but it will continue to serve Eugene from San Francisco and Denver. It will also reduce the number of daily flights on some routes.
United's top executives said they expect those reductions to extend into May, but they have not determined what to do after that — it will depend on bookings over the next few weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
