American Airlines cutting 1500 maintenance jobs

American Airlines is continuing its job cuts to reducing operating costs in the face of skyrocketing fuel costs by announcing 1,500 job cuts in its maintenance division.

The largest airline in the U.S. informed its employees of the job cuts in a memo earlier in the week.

American’s statement did not specify jobs cuts by location, and a spokesperson for the carrier, Tami McLallen, said that the reductions at each hub had not been decided.

The airline’s maintenance hubs are located in Forth Worth, Texas, Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and maintenance is also carried out at many small bases throughout the country. In addition to maintaining American’s aircraft, workers at the major hubs also perform maintenance on jets for other carriers.

Overall, American employs approximately 14,000 management and support staff in its maintenance division, and nearly 13,000 of them are members of the Transport Workers Union, noted McLallen. About half of the workers are Tulsa-based.

Cuts include 200 management and support staff and 1,300 mechanics, she added.

The carrier’s chief financial officer, Tom Horton, spoke of the large size of the airline’s maintenance organization earlier in the week. He commented that the division was built to service a much larger airline than what American will be after its upcoming capacity reductions.

American is planning to cut flights in the U.S. by as much as 12 percent at the end of the busy summer season.

www.aa.com