3,585 USAir Employees to Be Furloughed

USAir is laying off 3,585 employees, closing four of its 12 flight bases and shutting down a maintenance facility and a reservations office, the airline announced today.

The airline, hit by multimillion-dollar losses last year, said it would furlough 660 pilots, 540 flight attendants, 505 maintenance and utility employees, 1,300 customer service agents, 305 reservations agents and 275 managers and staff.

The specific cities where employees are to be furloughed will not be available for several months, the airline said.

Seth E. Schofield, USAir’s president and chief operating officer, told employees in a series of meetings that the cutbacks were made necessary by the recession.

“Today’s airline environment is marked by slumping traffic and sharply higher operating costs, particularly in the price of jet fuel,” Schofield said. “USAir is being restructured to survive and be in a position to rebuild for the future.”

The airline said it would close flight crew bases in San Diego; Miami; Greensboro, N.C., and Syracuse, N.Y.; a maintenance facility at Utica, N.Y., and a reservation office at Reston, Va.

The number of USAir daily flight departures will be reduced from 2,894 to 2,626 on May 2 as the airline cuts back unprofitable flights, USAir management said.

The airline said the restructuring will include expansion of service at its hubs in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia.