American Airlines said it will cut back the number of management and support roles, primarily at its headquarters in Fort Worth.
The massive airline said it is making the move to recalibrate its workforce to align with current needs. According to American, the layoffs “will help us optimize our performance and become even more efficient across the organization,” per ABC. It also said it intends to invest in other areas to support its “long-term business objectives.”
So far, American has not disclosed how many positions are set to be cut.
American Airlines aggressively expanded its headcount following the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, as air travel demand rapidly recovered. However, earlier this year, demand began to slow amid economic uncertainty. This environment prompted U.S. airlines to shrink their flight schedules.
In September, the Lufthansa Group announced that it would cut 4,000 jobs by the end of the decade, with the majority of layoffs expected to occur in its home country of Germany. Earlier this year, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said it was reducing its corporate workforce by 15%, the company’s first major layoffs in over half a century.
The latest announcement from Fort Worth-based American Airlines comes amid a growing slew of flight cancellations in the country, linked to the government shutdown. As recently reported by The Dallas Express, Vice President JD Vance warned air travel conditions could be disastrous over the coming Thanksgiving holiday period.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said more than eight out of 10 delays on Saturday were a result of staff shortages. Duffy said the ongoing government shutdown could result in “mass chaos,” and even the potential for closed airspace, if it is not resolved, per Axios.
“You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have the air traffic controllers,” Duffy said.
“If we thought that it was unsafe, we’ll shut the whole airspace down,” Duffy recently told CNBC.