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Continental lays off 12,000 as cutbacks begin
By Times staff and wire reports
© St. Petersburg Times, Airlines are cutting back service dramatically to avoid bankruptcy after the terrorist attacks, with three major carriers reducing their schedules by 20 percent and one of them, Continental, laying off 12,000 employees. American and Northwest did not specify how many jobs would be affected by their reduction in service. The cutbacks at Continental, the nation's fifth-largest airline, represent one-fifth of its work force of 56,000. "These actions are a direct result of the current and anticipated adverse effects on the demand for air travel caused by this week's terrorist attacks on the United States and the operational and financial costs of dramatically increased security requirements," the Houston carrier said in a statement Saturday. Continental chairman and chief executive Gordon Bethune would not say when, if ever, the employees might be called back to work. Bethune said that the airline has been losing $30-million a day since the attacks and that only 55 percent of its planes are back in the air -- most of them half-empty. Even before the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were hit by hijacked airliners, analysts predicted the industry would see huge losses because of the downturn in the economy. But the figure has now ballooned to between $4-billion and $7-billion because of a drop in bookings caused by a fear of flying; the shutdown in air travel over the past few days; and the fewer flights and higher costs associated with new airport security measures. Without a huge bailout from the government, analysts say, bankruptcy is imminent for even the largest airlines. Congress on Friday said it would give President Bush $40-billion to help rebuild from last week's terrorist attacks. The administration has not yet endorsed the package and gave no indication how much might money it might allocate to airlines. White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said the administration has already been in touch with the airlines, and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta plans to meet soon with industry executives to discuss their financial and security concerns. On Saturday, the number of commercial flights around the country continued to increase, though activity was below normal. Officials at the FAA said the number of flights was well below the typical 36,000 to 38,000 a day, although they could not provide an exact accounting. Logan Airport in Boston opened for the first time since the terrorist attacks on Tuesday. That left Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington as the nation's only major airport still closed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Federal authorities allowed empty planes to fly out of Reagan National Airport on Saturday, but the airport remains closed to commercial passenger flights. Logan was the airport of origin for the two hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center towers. The other two hijacked planes took off from Dulles International Airport near Washington and Newark (N.J.) Airport. The increased activity did not proceed entirely smoothly, as long lines, increased security and disruptions were still evident at many of the nation's 425 commercial airports, reflecting the skittishness and concern of the country. Two Delta Air Lines flights bound for Atlanta, one from Logan and one from Worcester, Mass., 50 miles west of Logan, were returned to the gates, evacuated and searched after crew members encountered disruptions. At Logan, Joey Cuzzi, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said the captain of Delta Flight 1069, with 87 passengers and seven crew members aboard, "decided that he didn't like the behavior" of one passenger and returned to the gate. At Worcester, Cuzzi said, crew members on Delta Flight 4581 "were uncomfortable with something on the aircraft." The state police searched both planes and interviewed the disruptive passenger on the Boston flight. The passenger was released but not allowed to reboard the plane, which took off around noon. The Worcester plane was kept on the ground, and passengers were taken by bus to Manchester, N.H., where they were put on another flight for Atlanta. At Tampa International Airport, Bernice and Morris Gateman of Palm Harbor were last in line at the US Airways check-in counter Saturday afternoon, with at least 100 other baggage-laden travelers ahead of them. They weren't fazed. "I knew this would be here," said Mrs. Gateman, 81. Their morning flight to Baltimore had been canceled. They arrived at the airport at 4:30 p.m. for their 8:15 p.m. flight, carrying a sandwich for dinner along with their bags. Mrs. Gateman planned to read a book while waiting; her husband, she said, probably would pick up a Reader's Digest. Were they ready to have their bags searched? "Yeah, sure," Mrs. Gateman said. "You just have to go with the flow." TIA officials reported some extremely long lines early Saturday, and some airlines reported delays of about 30 minutes because of problems getting crews in place. Despite the lines, the airport was quiet and uncrowded Saturday. By 4:30 p.m., only 295 flights had landed or taken off from TIA, said Kelly Figley, community relations coordinator for the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority. On a normal day, 600 flights would have used the airport to land or take off, she said.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
