Over 13,000 American Airlines Employees Opt for Voluntary Leave, Early Retirement

The coronavirus pandemic has sent the aviation industry into a wicked tailwind spin and now more than a third of American Airlines pilots and flight attendants will take voluntary leave or retire in April or May.

According to The Dallas Morning News, the move will help the Fort Worth-based carrier deal with an excess of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company is offering voluntary leave to 4,800 pilots for April or May, while another 715 will be given early retirement with partial pay and full benefits. 

The figures include 1,500 pilots who were granted voluntary leave for April and were announced to employees last week. The numbers were disclosed in a letter to pilots from American late Thursday night.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants said about 7,960 members signed up for voluntary leave or early retirement out of 25,300 total. About 7,200 flight attendants signed up for three-, six- or 12-month leaves and about 760 will take early retirement. Both leave and retirement would start in May.

Pilots ages 62 to 65 were eligible for the early retirement package. Federal Aviation Administration rules mandate that pilots are not allowed to work for commercial airlines past age 65. American had 13,800 pilots as of January.

The large number of pilots putting hands up to take leave should help the company as it dramatically scales back its flying schedule for May and June. Pilots were offered one-, three- and six-month voluntary leave options, but the company didn’t say how many would take each duration.

Pilots are already looking at flying at contractually minimum levels. Flight attendants are trying to coordinate who will staff flights in coming months and who will stay at home and get minimum pay.

American isn’t the only carrier looking for ways to cut costs. U.S. air carriers are looking to shed payroll and even temporarily lose workers as travel demand drops to levels not seen since the 1950s. Delta Air Lines said Friday that 35,000 of its employees have volunteered for some sort of leave.