TOPLINE
Nearly 17,000 Southwest Airlines employees, or 28% of its workforce, volunteered for extended time off or early retirement packages, according to multiple reports, and 2,200 Delta pilots signed up for early retirement packages as airlines prepare for expected furloughs when federal bailout funding runs out this fall.
BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 06: A Southwest Airlines plane lands next to a United Airlines plane ... [+]
KEY FACTS
Around 24% of the Southwest employees were pilots while 33% were flight attendants, according to Reuters, with 4,400 stepping up for early retirement and 12,500 volunteering for time off.
Additionally, 2,234 Delta pilots volunteered for early retirement, though the company is looking to cut around 2,500.
Back in April, major U.S. airlines received $25 billion in grant aid to cover salaries on the condition that employers wouldn't furlough or layoff workers until October 1, but with the travel industry still devastated from Covid-19, mass staff reductions are expected in the fall.
United Airlines earlier in the month warned workers that it may need to cut up to 36,000 employees, or 40% of its total workforce, after October 1 if travel remained stagnant and buyouts weren't accepted, according to the New York Times.
Southwest and Delta stock both fell 3% on Monday, with TSA data on Monday showing a decline in air travel for the first time since April, according to CNBC.
A significant uptick in cases across the nation likely explains the reduction in air travel during the summer months, with the U.S. hitting a record 74,710 cases on Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tangent
With the U.S. failing to exit the first wave of its outbreak, the European Union left the country off a list of nations it will allow for nonessential travel, though, the U.S. Department of State still advises against all international travel. Within the country, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which were among the hardest hit states early on in the pandemic, put in place an order requiring travelers from 22 states quarantine for two weeks.
Big Number
80%. That's how far American Airlines' revenue dropped year-over-year in June, according to CNBC. The airline is estimating that around 25,000 employees could lose their jobs after October 1.
Key Background
Hopes that business would recover in the summer have been dashed with the recent rapid spread of the virus across southern and western states. The U.S. leads all other countries in confirmed cases with 3,808,104, as well as reported deaths with 140,828.
