UPS has started talks with unions over laying off 300 pilots in order to save operating costs whileavoiding redundancies. This would be a 10% cut in its worldwide pilot workforce.
In recent months UPS has unveiled a wide range of cost-cutting measures in response to thedramatic downturn in the international air express industry and poor outlook for the rest of thisyear. In the aviation sector, some minor US air routes have already been closed down. The companyis also seeking to consolidate more air volumes through its expanded Worldport hub at Louisville,thus reducing capacity requirements on non-hub routes.
On April 23, the company announced plans to speed up retirement of its 44 older DC-8freighters. UPS already took a $181 million impairment charge on the aircraft in the first quarterand said it had identified $300 million worth of additional cost saving measures.
UPS is in discussions with the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), which represents the2,900 UPS pilots, to seek ways to achieve a 10% cut in the pilot workforce without having to makeredundancies, US media reported. This would save about $54 million in costs.
“Since we are flying a smaller air network, we need fewer crew members,” a UPS Airlinesspokesman told the Louisville Courier Journal newspaper. “Given current economic conditions we haveapproximately 300 more pilots than we need.” UPS wants to achieve savings while protecting jobs, hestressed.
The IPA has proposed various voluntary measures, including leaves of absence, earlyretirements, job sharing and reduced work time, in order to reach the savings targets, thenewspaper said.
