Skift Take
United expects to remain half its size till the end of next year, when CEO Scott Kirby thinks a vaccine will be widely available. But will it be in a position to respond quickly to demand if the company is forced to lay off tens of thousands of employees?
United Airlines expects to remain 45 percent of its pre-pandemic size for the next 15 months, CEO Scott Kirby said at the Skift Global Forum on Tuesday. Absent the development and widespread distribution of a vaccine, which Kirby believes will not occur until the end of next year, the airline will not grow beyond its current size.
Kirby, however, is confident that demand will spring back as soon as a vaccine is widely available. But will United be in a position to spring back? Airline employees — technicians, pilots, flight attendants, among others — are licensed and have specialized skills. If United and its peers are forced to furlough tens of thousands of such workers, as they say they will when payroll support through the CARES Act expires on September 30, they won't be able to respond quickly to rapidly returning demand if their employees have taken other jobs or need to be re-trained.
[caption id="attachment_405590" align="alignright" width="200"] United CEO Scott Kirby[/caption]
"Huge kudos to everyone in Washington," Kirby told Skift Editor-in-Chief Tom Lowry, referring to the bipartisan support for the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which he credits with saving the economy when it became law in March. Airlines got $25 billion in federal aid to continue paying employees through September 30, but were forbidden from laying them off until October 1.
