Sydney Airport Message Board Sydney Airport Message Board  

Go Back   Sydney Airport Message Board > Aviation Industry News and Discussion > International Industry


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 6th June 2008, 11:53 AM
Gerald A Gerald A is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 537
Default Continental Airlines cuts jobs, retires planes

Quote:
Reuters

NEW YORK -- Continental Airlines Inc has said it would cut 3,000 jobs, or about 6.5 per cent of its work force, and retire 67 older planes as it scales down in the face of soaring fuel prices.

The fourth largest carrier is the latest of the major US airlines to announce large cutbacks as they grapple with unprecedented oil prices. On Tuesday, UAL Corp's United Airlines announced plans to slash jobs and flights, following a similar move by AMR Corp's American Airlines last month.

"The airline industry is in a crisis. Its business model doesn't work with the current price of fuel and the existing level of capacity in the marketplace. We need to make changes in response," Larry Kellner, Continental's chief executive, and Jeff Smisek, its president, wrote in a letter to Continental employees released on Thursday.

Crude oil futures crested at $US135 a barrel last month -- more than twice the price of a year ago -- sending the cost of jet fuel up sharply.

To counter its higher fuel bill, Continental said it would cut 3,000 of its 45,000 staff, and retire 67 older single-aisle Boeing 737 planes by the end of 2009, on top of the six planes it has already pulled out of service this year.

The airline said it would replace some of those jets with deliveries of new, more fuel-efficient 737s. Its mainline fleet of about 375 planes would shrink to about 344 by the end of next year, an overall cut of about eight per cent.

It said it would cut flights after the summer season, reducing domestic capacity -- or the number of seats for sale on US flights -- by about 11 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Continental plans to cut domestic flights about 16 per cent in the fourth quarter, over the year before, but said it would not announce which destinations will be hit until late next week.

It said it would provide more details on the job cuts next week after discussing them with employees. The airline hopes most of the cuts will be voluntary.

The reductions will take effect after the peak summer season, Continental said, although some management and clerical jobs will be cut sooner.

Continental's shares, which have fallen 35 per cent so far this year as surging oil prices have ravaged the industry, rose about three per cent to $US15 in premarket trading, from their close at $US14.50 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

More links
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time now is 05:47 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © Sydney Airport Message Board 1997-2022
Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Conditions of Use and Privacy Statement