Some of the biggest airlines in the United States have decided to cancel thousands of furloughs after the House passed the stimulus package earlier this week. The landmark package has earmarked a fixed budget for them. The package has averted thousands of job losses that were eminent because of the pandemic. The support will help airlines to pay employees their payments. American Airlines has informed around 13,000 employees that the furlough warning issued last month has been canceled. The information shared in a form memo circulated by president Robert Isom and chief executive officer Doug Parker.
“This is for or 13,000 colleagues who received notification regarding worker adjustment and retraining last month. We are delighted to say that those are happily canceled. You can now tear them up!” the leadership of the airline said in the memo. Similarly, United Airlines has withdrawn furlough notices issued to 14,000 employees. The furloughs were supposed to into effect next month. The announcement regarding the furloughs was made by airlines in 2020. They made the announcement in anticipation that the CARES Act won’t be renewed as there was a leadership change in the United States. But with the stimulus package announced by Congress, these airlines have now a ray of hope and are taking measures to makes sure that no one losses a job.
As part of the relief bill, the airline industry will get USD 1 billion for the eligible contractors and USD 14 billion to support workers. The relief bill makes sure that these companies won’t fire any employees through September 30. Airlines have been at the receiving end ever since the coronavirus pandemic struck. The pandemic-led lockdown grounded all the flights which resulted in huge losses to the industry. International Air Transport Association has estimated that the global revenue losses for the industry in 2020 were something between USD 63 billion and USD 113 billion. The IATA also said that the industry will take at least three years to reach pre-pandemic levels.
