Continental to Lay Off 900 as Jobs, Schedules Change

Continental Airlines, part of the vast but money-losing Texas Air empire, said Friday that it will lay off 900 managers, pilots, flight attendants and ground employees as part of a schedule realignment and management restructuring.

The company said the personnel cuts are because of a schedule realignment to take place in the fall. It includes increased service at Cleveland and Newark, N.J., and a cut in Denver service.

Continental lost $151 million in the second quarter because of a drop in business after a widely publicized safety investigation by federal authorities and problems in accounting for ticket losses.

Texas Air, which also owns Eastern Air Lines, reported that it lost a near-record $256 million in the quarter because of losses at both airlines. Texas Air’s operations make it the biggest air carrier in the United States.

Continental said although 900 employees have been designated for layoff, it expects the number of people ultimately affected to be far less because of reassignments, relocations and other employment shifts.

Eastern Air Lines has plans to eliminate 4,000 jobs from its work force in a bid to restore it to profitability. Those job cuts are on hold pending court action brought by two of Eastern’s unions.

Continental said the job cuts it plans are due to natural shifts in the airline industry.

“These actions will improve the bottom line and assure the continued profitability of Continental and the secure futures of our more than 30,000 employees,” Continental President Martin Shugrue said in a statement.