Struggling US Airways Group Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut about 1,000 jobs next year, shift nearly all of its flying to its three hubs and Washington, and suspend several international routes.
The retrenching is aimed at putting its airplanes where the money is — its hubs at Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Charlotte, N.C., as well as Washington. US Airways said flying from its hubs has been profitable.
When the changes are made early next year, 99 percent of its flying will be to or from those cities, up from 93 percent now. The airline is also keeping its US Airways Shuttle between Boston, New York, and Washington, although some of the Boston flying is shifting to its smaller Embraer 190 jets.
US Airways has said its domestic operations will drop slightly next year, while international operations will rise a little.
The changes announced Wednesday include dropping Colorado Springs, which it said is too close to Denver to be profitable. It is also trimming Las Vegas flights from 64 departures per day to 36.
The carrier is scaling back international flights from Philadelphia. It will suspend flights between there and London Gatwick; Birmingham, England; Milan, Italy; Shannon, Ireland; and Stockholm. It will also formally give up its government permission to fly between Philadelphia and Beijing, which it never used.
US Airways said its first flights across the Pacific will now be on its planned route to Tokyo, beginning in 2012 “or when market conditions become favorable.” The company said revenue on trans-Atlantic routes has fallen $273 million this year through September.
The Tempe, Ariz., airline said the job cuts will occur in the first half of 2010 and will include 600 passenger and ramp service workers, 200 pilots, and about 150 flight attendants. The airline will close crew bases in Las Vegas and at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Jan. 31, and in Boston on May 2.
US Airways lost $80 million in the third quarter, and it’s expected to lose money for the full year. The airline lost $2.3 billion in 2008.
“It is obvious we cannot continue to operate unprofitably forever,” US Airways CEO Doug Parker wrote in a letter to workers Wednesday.
Airlines have been stung by a drop-off in business travel, which tends to be their most profitable passenger segment. US Airways President Scott Kirby said in an interview that he still thinks he is seeing a recovery in business traffic.
“But you have to remember that business demand was down 30 to 35 percent,” he said, “so saying you see recovery doesn’t mean that things are great and it’s time to start growing and acting like the world is fixed for airlines, because it’s not.”
US Airways shares fell a penny Wednesday to close at $3.13 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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