Crippled by travel fears in the age of the coronavirus, American Airlines announced Tuesday that it will lay off 19,000 employees when federal aid expires in October, CNBC reports.
The current federal aid program is contingent on not making any job cuts before September 30th, but with no additional relief in sight, airlines are scheduling layoffs for October 1st. Already, more than 75,000 airline workers have been told their jobs are at risk as the deadline approaches.
The American Airlines layoffs will amount to approximately 14% of their overall workforce. It’s being done as the airline anticipates working at 50% capacity in the upcoming fourth quarter versus last year. More than 12,000 employees have already voluntarily left the airline this year through early retirements and other attrition.