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Flight attendants to return to the skies
By: Karen Ferrick-Roman, Times Staff
11/03/2005
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Less than one-third of the 925 US Airways flight attendants who volunteered to be laid off after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, virtually shut down the airline industry will be returning to the skies next month.
On Dec. 2, 300-plus flight attendants will come back to work, said Amy Kudwa, US Airways spokeswoman. The others have agreed to remain on furlough or have decided to leave the airline.
Those returning will be in training until about Dec. 17, then will revert to their old seniority levels. They will be back in time for the holiday travel season, said Teddy Xidas, president of the local chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways.
Kudwa said she was uncertain whether their return will result in other flight attendants being laid off. Xidas predicted the airline will keep all flight attendants on board through the holiday season, to avoid a repeat of last year's staffing debacle over Christmas. She anticipates layoffs to start in January among the US Airways East operations, the former US Airways system.
Merger plans call for the old US Airways to reduce its fleet by more than 30 jets. "The job losses are going to come from the East side because the company still has to get rid of aircraft," Xidas said. The most junior flight attendants at US Airways East have seven years of experience.
Even though US Airways and America West Airlines merged on Sept. 27 under the US Airways name, operations remain separate and are expected to do so for two years. The former America West, operating from Phoenix as US Airways West, continues to replace flight attendants who are leaving.
US Airways flight attendants who continue their furloughs will do so indefinitely, Xidas said, though Kudwa did not state a time frame.
These workers would be called back only after 1,700 flight attendants who were involuntarily forced out of their jobs after Sept. 11 return to work, Xidas said.
Those on furlough receive only flying privileges, Xidas said.
"They don't have anything else," she said. "It's all been exhausted: COBRA (health coverage), their pension."
The furlough buys time for some flight attendants. Some have wanted the hiatus to raise children. Others are waiting for the airline to become more stable, meanwhile escaping the anxiety of displacement or layoff, Xidas said.
Voluntary furloughs were negotiated to allow US Airways to better balance its senior and junior work force, Xidas said. Starting in December 2001, flight attendants could volunteer for six-month furloughs, removing higher-paid senior workers from the payroll and saving the jobs of more junior employees.
The last voluntary furlough was offered in December 2004.
This year, the airline offered a voluntary furlough with limited recall, siphoning away 1,200 more flight attendants, including Xidas, who will leave on Dec. 2, as the other flight attendants return.
About 475 flight attendants are scheduled to retire from the airline before the end of the year, though nearly 400 have rescinded their retirement since the merger, Xidas said. US Airways' flight attendant staff has dropped from 11,500 active in 2001 to 4,300 now.
Karen Ferrick-Roman can be reached online at [email protected].
©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2005
By: Karen Ferrick-Roman, Times Staff
11/03/2005
Email to a friend Printer-friendly
Less than one-third of the 925 US Airways flight attendants who volunteered to be laid off after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, virtually shut down the airline industry will be returning to the skies next month.
On Dec. 2, 300-plus flight attendants will come back to work, said Amy Kudwa, US Airways spokeswoman. The others have agreed to remain on furlough or have decided to leave the airline.
Those returning will be in training until about Dec. 17, then will revert to their old seniority levels. They will be back in time for the holiday travel season, said Teddy Xidas, president of the local chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants at US Airways.
Kudwa said she was uncertain whether their return will result in other flight attendants being laid off. Xidas predicted the airline will keep all flight attendants on board through the holiday season, to avoid a repeat of last year's staffing debacle over Christmas. She anticipates layoffs to start in January among the US Airways East operations, the former US Airways system.
Merger plans call for the old US Airways to reduce its fleet by more than 30 jets. "The job losses are going to come from the East side because the company still has to get rid of aircraft," Xidas said. The most junior flight attendants at US Airways East have seven years of experience.
Even though US Airways and America West Airlines merged on Sept. 27 under the US Airways name, operations remain separate and are expected to do so for two years. The former America West, operating from Phoenix as US Airways West, continues to replace flight attendants who are leaving.
US Airways flight attendants who continue their furloughs will do so indefinitely, Xidas said, though Kudwa did not state a time frame.
These workers would be called back only after 1,700 flight attendants who were involuntarily forced out of their jobs after Sept. 11 return to work, Xidas said.
Those on furlough receive only flying privileges, Xidas said.
"They don't have anything else," she said. "It's all been exhausted: COBRA (health coverage), their pension."
The furlough buys time for some flight attendants. Some have wanted the hiatus to raise children. Others are waiting for the airline to become more stable, meanwhile escaping the anxiety of displacement or layoff, Xidas said.
Voluntary furloughs were negotiated to allow US Airways to better balance its senior and junior work force, Xidas said. Starting in December 2001, flight attendants could volunteer for six-month furloughs, removing higher-paid senior workers from the payroll and saving the jobs of more junior employees.
The last voluntary furlough was offered in December 2004.
This year, the airline offered a voluntary furlough with limited recall, siphoning away 1,200 more flight attendants, including Xidas, who will leave on Dec. 2, as the other flight attendants return.
About 475 flight attendants are scheduled to retire from the airline before the end of the year, though nearly 400 have rescinded their retirement since the merger, Xidas said. US Airways' flight attendant staff has dropped from 11,500 active in 2001 to 4,300 now.
Karen Ferrick-Roman can be reached online at [email protected].
©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2005
