P.M. BRIEFING : American to Fill Eastern’s Gaps
American Airlines said today it will hire 600 new employees and expand service to Miami and the Caribbean by 44 flights a day beginning June 1, filling gaps left by strike-crippled Eastern Airlines.
American had said late last year that it would expand in Florida, but the strike pushed its planning schedule ahead.
“Obviously the opportunity that Eastern’s problem presented brought us to take a look at the timing of that plan,” said Robert Baker, American’s senior vice president for operations. “It was probably a year down the road. The Caribbean part was closer than that.”
The 600 new employees will be hired in Miami. The airline’s expanded presence will represent another $100 million a year to the local economy.
The growth in Florida and the Caribbean will add 3,219 seats a day to the market. New routes from Miami will include nonstop flights to Los Angeles, New York and Boston.
New service to the Caribbean will include stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica, Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic as well as Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
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