|
Delta to announce layoffs
|
 |
September 20, 2001: 8:15 p.m. ET
Airline to cut operations 15 to 20 percent, jobs cuts expected next week
|
ATLANTA (CNN) - Delta Air Lines, facing a "life and death situation" in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks, expects to reduce the size of its operations by 15 to 20 percent and will announce layoffs next week, the company's president told employees in a recorded phone message Thursday.
"We have absolutely no alternative to the heartbreaking requirement of reducing employee costs and head count in order to stabilize our company and permit it to have a reasonable future," said Fred Reid, Delta's president and chief operating officer.
He told employees they would probably be informed of layoffs between Monday and Wednesday of next week.
Reid did not specify how many people Delta (DAL: Research, Estimates) would let go, and company officials, who have not formally announced any layoffs, could not be reached for additional comment on his remarks. According to Delta's Web, site, the Atlanta-based carrier has about 80,000 employees.
Reid said that the company hoped to make many of the necessary job cuts through "voluntary programs." But he told employees that neither those voluntary efforts, nor expected financial support from Congress, will be enough to avoid cutbacks.
"The actions we take in the next six months will have a dramatic impact on our future," said Reid, who said the company has seen an "extreme drop in passenger demand" since the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The airline operates hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City and Dallas-Ft. Worth. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
