CHICAGO, Ill. (CNN) — United Airlines is slashing its flight schedule by 50% for the next two months and is seeking deep cost savings from its unions.
United’s top management executives will have a 50% cut in their pay, according to a letter from United CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby to the company’s 100,000 employees — which was made public Sunday night.
The letter indicated that United management began discussions with the airline’s unions on Sunday about lowering compensation costs. Employee furloughs, layoffs or a reduction in pay rates are among the options for cost cutting being considered.
The airline has already carried one million fewer passengers in the first two weeks of March than a year ago and it expects to suffer a $1.5 billion reduction in revenue for the month, according to the letter.
“The bad news is that it’s getting worse. We expect both the number of customers and revenue to decline sharply in the days and weeks ahead,” the letter said.
