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United to shut centers, cut staff
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January 3, 2002: 6:05 p.m. ET
Nation's second largest airline closes five reservation units, slashes jobs.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - United Airlines said Thursday it will close five domestic reservation centers and lay off about 900 workers due to a drop in bookings following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The nation's second largest commercial carrier behind the American Airlines division of AMR Corp. (AMR: Research, Estimates) blamed the slower reservation activity and the soft U.S. economy for the cuts.
United said even though the reservation offices were busy in November and December handling customer calls on security and schedule changes, that work has been largely completed.
The company said four of the offices in California and one in Illinois will be closed on Feb. 28, leaving the airline with 12 reservation offices after the cuts.
A spokesperson for United said some of the furloughed employees will be eligible to relocate to other offices based on seniority, and others will have the right to be rehired if the airline expands in the future.
United has already reduced its overall workforce by about 19,000 employees out of 100,000 following the terrorist attacks, but very few of the reductions have occurred in reservations.
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With a majority of job cuts in California, the airline said the Golden State will remain a priority with more than 23,000 workers employed in that state.
UAL Corp. (UAL: Research, Estimates), the parent of United Airlines, rose $1.03, or 7.5 percent, to $14.73 on the news. 
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