United cuts May flights by 90%, tells employees to brace for job cuts due to COVID-19

United Airlines Holdings Inc said on Wednesday that it has cut its flight schedule by 90% in May and expects similar cuts for June as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and warned that travel demand that is now “essentially at zero shows no sign of improving in the near term,” making job cuts likely.

United disclosed its outlook in a memo to employees that it publicly released. The memo was from Chief Executive Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby.

Like other U.S. airlines, travel demand for Chicago-based United has cratered as most U.S. states have ordered residents to stay at home in order to contain spread of the coronavirus.

United said it flew less than 200,000 people in the first two weeks of April, a 97% drop from the more than 6 million people it flew during the same time in 2019. It expects to fly fewer people during the entire month of May than it did on a single day in May of last year, Munoz and Kirby said.

“The historically severe economic impact of this crisis means even when travel demand starts to inch back, it likely will not bounce back quickly,” they said.

“We believe that the health concerns about COVID-19 are likely to linger which means even when social distancing measures are relaxed, and businesses and schools start to reopen, life won’t necessarily return to normal.”

While the $5 billion that United expect to receive in government payroll support under the CARES Act bars its from involuntary furloughs before Sept. 30, the airline indicated that it expects to have to cut payroll after that. It said it will be offering new voluntary leave packages in the coming weeks and voluntary separation programs.

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