United Airlines tells 36,000 employees they might lose their jobs

On Wednesday, the Chicago-based airline notified 36,000 employees, about 45% of the company's domestic employees, that they may lose their jobs on or after Oct. 1.

• By David Schaper

The devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the air travel industry is becoming clearer, as United Airlines announced on Wednesday that it may need to cut its U.S.-based workforce nearly in half when federal payroll funding runs out in October.

On Wednesday, the Chicago-based airline notified 36,000 employees, about 45% of the company’s domestic employees, that they may lose their jobs on or after Oct. 1, the earliest date that airlines that received government-funded payroll grants can eliminate jobs under the terms of the CARES Act.

Demand for air travel continues to be weak, as the number of airline passengers is down about 75% compared with what it was last year at this time. And a recent uptick in demand leading into and through the July Fourth holiday weekend appears short-lived, as rising numbers of new coronavirus infections in many states have led to another sharp drop in airline bookings and an increase in passenger cancellations.

United executives call the pandemic the worst crisis in the airline’s history, and in a message sent out to all employees on Wednesday morning, they said that they’ve taken aggressive steps to cut costs and raise capital but that the airline is still losing about $40 million a day.