The company wide furloughs that had been anticipated are happening at American Airlines. Hundreds of pilots and thousands of flight attendants will be dropped from the payroll, in large part because of a failure of negotiators in Washington D.C. to reach an agreement to extend the payroll support program.
880 pilots have received notice already, according to Captain Dennis Trajer of the Allied Pilots Association. Flight attendants are allowed to finish their scheduled routes through Saturday then up to 13,000 could be turned loose. And both pilots and flight attendants warn the longer they are off the job the harder it is to bring workers back.
"In the next week, if we get a bill done and we get something to keep everybody connected to their pay that we can get this done administratively, American Airlines will be able to handle it" said Paul Hartshorn Jr, spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. "Once they've administratively separated thousands of employees from the payroll it's not as easy as putting them right back on."
The problem with a quick ramp-up lies with ongoing training that both flight attendants and pilots need to take. They cannot train while off the job, and it could take weeks to bring the employees back up to speed if and when the company decides it can add more flights. For instance, the company may decide to drop one model of plane and switch the crew to another.
"That means you're retraining pilots." said Gregg Overman of the Allied Pilots Association. "Somebody may have been a captain on a wide body airplane, now they are a captain on a smaller plane. They have to go to training for that. It's not an overnight thing. It takes weeks."
Employees had been warned to brace for the layoffs. In a letter to employees, American Airlines Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said he was "extremely sorry we have reached thei outcome. It is not what you all deserve."
Ripples are already being felt across the Metroplex.
Restaurant owners at DFW International Airport, stung by the low number of airline customers, are not sure what to expect. Likewise, hotel operators who have been forced to cut staff because there are fewer travelers may be faced with further reductions as there are fewer travelers and airline flight crews.
"We do have a lot of business travel that comes in here. We're certainly not immune from it." said Traci Mayer, executive director of the Hotel Association of North Texas.
It isn't just the front desk staff, the housekeeping, restaurant staff and even shuttle drivers will feel the pinch, says Mayer.
While the airline and hospitality industries may feel another squeeze, an economist says the American Airlines will be spread across the country and have little real impact on the overall economy of North Texas
