United Airlines plans to cut 30% of workforce in October, brace pilots for changes too

According to a reliable source, the United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL.O) revealed plans on Tuesday to slash its workforce by 30% or roughly 3,400 managerial and administrative jobs in October to survive a collapse in travel demand amid the virus outbreak. It has also told pilots to prepare for changes.

This Chicago-based carrier was among the U.S. airlines that have received a stimulus package from the U.S. government that bans work orders or pay cuts before the end of September. However, United and other airlines have cautioned that travel demand is probably not going to recover to precrisis levels in just 4 months, forcing them to decline in the fall.

The memos released by United Airlines on Tuesday were the first signs of how much major aircrafts might decrease because of the pandemic.

In a company memo to 11,500 managers and administrative staff, Kate Gebo, the Executive Vice President Human Resources and Labor Relations of United Airlines said, “We have to acknowledge that there will be serious consequences to our company if we don’t continue to take strong and decisive action, which includes making decisions that none of us ever wanted or expected to make.”