United Pilots Approve a Deal to Avoid Almost 3,000 Furloughs

United Airlines pilots have collectively approved a plan that will allow 3,000 of their ranks to retain their jobs through at least June 2021.

Pilots have agreed to work fewer hours, although those junior pilots who would otherwise have been most likely to be furloughed now face the greatest work-hour reductions, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents United’s pilots, said that the new arrangement also extends a voluntary separation program to a wider pool of pilots and promises to gradually increase the remaining pilots’ work hours as passenger volumes increase.

Bryan Quigley, United’s senior vice president of flight operations, wrote today in a message to pilots: “In addition to avoiding furloughs, this agreement greatly enhances our ability to bounce back—so we can welcome more passengers and return to the 2019 levels of seat and fleet advancement more quickly.”

Chicago-based United had previously announced its expectation that it would be forced to furlough 2,850 of the airline’s 13,000 pilots, as well as about 13,500 of its other employees (e.g., flight attendants, management, support staff and maintenance workers) on when the U.S. government’s Payroll Support Program expires on October 1.

Airlines that accepted a portion of the billions of dollars in federal financial aid issued under the CARES Act earlier this year are prohibited from instituting layoffs through the end of September.

Six months into the pandemic, airline executives and unions that represent air-travel industry workers are lobbying for a second round of federal grants and loans to help preserve jobs for a further six months, but no decision has yet been reached. In its absence, U.S. airlines are looking at implementing a combined 70,000 layoffs or involuntary furloughs, come October 1.