American Airlines would lay off 19,000 employees in October if government aid is not extended.

American Airlines on Tuesday threatened to cut 19,000 jobs once U.S. federal aid to airlines through the Payroll Support Program (PSP) to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus expires as scheduled on October 1.

The planned staff cuts will reduce total American Airlines employment to less than 100,000, compared to 140,000 in March. Some 12,500 workers have left voluntarily and 11,000 will be on leave as of October 1, adding to the 19,000 the company announced Tuesday.

Last April, the US government announced a rescue agreement with the country’s main passenger airlines to alleviate the losses caused by the economic situation generated by the coronavirus pandemic for some 25 billion dollars (22,759 million euros).

This did not prevent the company from registering net losses of 4,308 million dollars (3,600 million euros) in the first half of the year, compared to the profit of 847 million dollars (733 million euros) in the same period last year, impacted by the collapse in demand for travel around the world caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Debate over a possible six-month extension of the government’s support program has stalled in Congress, so for American Airlines, unintended job cuts could be avoided if lawmakers agreed to extend support to the companies.

“We have come to you many times throughout the pandemic, often with sobering updates about a world none of us could have imagined,” said CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom in a letter to employees that was released in a regulatory filing. “Today is the most difficult message we’ve had to share,” they acknowledged.

Based on current demand, American plans to fly less than 50% of its usual schedule in the fourth quarter, with international long-haul flights at only 25% of 2019 levels.

By EuropaPress