American Airlines Warns It Will Cut Another 13,000 Jobs As It Burns Through Latest Bailout In Just One Month If you thought that in exchange for the billions in taxpayer funds that Congress gave to the largest US commercial airlines, these same companies would put layoffs on hold for at least a few months, you'd be wrong, because in a letter from American Airliens CEO Doug Parker, the largest US carrier warned that starting this Friday, the company which has now received two rounds of bailouts, will begin issuing aptly titled "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification" (WARN) notices covering approximately 13,000 team members. As a reminder, WARN notices may be required by law in advance of potential furloughs in certain locations, and while American is quick to note that "these notices do not necessarily equate to furloughs" the reality is that another 13,000 American airlines are about the be let off. Why the sudden reversal from the company which in December was so giddy about the bright future, it had to wear shades? Because as it lays out in the letter "we are nearly five weeks into 2021, and unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation similar to much of 2020. As we closed out last year with the successful extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP), we fully believed that we would be looking at a summer schedule where we’d fly all of our airplanes and need the full strength of our team. Regrettably, that is no longer the case. The vaccine is not being distributed as quickly as any of us believed, and new restrictions on international travel that require customers to have a negative COVID-19 test have dampened demand." Translation: "we need another few billion in PPP aid, because we already burned through the money we received just two months ago." American's announcement is shocking because as CNBC reminds us, "the latest $15 billion Congress approved for U.S. carriers late last year required airlines to recall the employees they furloughed in the fall and maintain payroll through March 31. It was the second round of Covid aid for the industry; Congress gave airlines $25 billion last March to keep them from cutting employees through the fall." However, as so many correctly said, the money would last at most for a month before American would come crawling back for more... and to think of all the billions spent on buybacks in the past decade. American's announcement follows just days after US airline CEOs reporting record annual losses of $34 billion, and warned they didn’t expect a strong rebound in air travel in the near future. American’s CEO Doug Parker told staff last week that the carrier is still overstaffed for current demand projections and that there could be furloughs. “I don’t want anybody to be surprised if the company issues WARN notices in the near future,” Parker said in a town hall with staff last week, audio of which was reviewed by CNBC. He said the company will work with labor unions to reduce furloughs through voluntary measures. And in a world where everyone is now habituated to receiving a taxpayer-funded bailout every month, airline labor unions are now seeking $15 billion more in federal payroll support for the industry to keep jobs through Sept. 30. They will probably get it... and then another... and another. Tyler Durden Wed, 02/03/2021 - 17:34