United Airlines by June will
significantly reduce operations at its Cleveland Hopkins International Airport hub,
cutting 60 percent of daily departures and eliminating roughly 470 employee
positions, according to the carrier. The bulk of the service cuts, set to begin
in April, comprises regional airline services operated by partners, with
mainline flights, hub services and top-tier nonstop business city pairs largely
intact.
"Our hub in Cleveland
hasn't been profitable for over a decade, and has generated tens of millions of
dollars of annual losses in recent years," according to a Feb. 1 memo to
employees from United CEO Jeff Smisek. "We simply cannot continue to bear
these losses."
Smisek noted that United
would cut just "one of our 26 peak-day mainline departures." Yet,
regional departures from Cleveland would be slashed by more than 70 percent. In
total, available seat miles would decline 36 percent.
"When the schedule
reductions are fully implemented in June, we plan to offer 72 peak-day flights
from Cleveland and serve 20 destinations from Cleveland on a non-stop basis,
including to all our hubs and to key business markets," which would
include New York LaGuardia, Washington National and Boston, according to Smisek.
To advance its merger with
Continental Airlines, United in 2010 cut a deal with Ohio officials to maintain at least 90
percent of Cleveland flights for at least two years.
"No city has been more
supportive of its hub carrier, and no group of employees has been more
dedicated to providing great service," according to Smisek, "but the
demand for hub-level connecting flying through Cleveland simply isn't
there."
Smisek said the decision to
cut Cleveland flying was driven in part by a pilot shortage, which he said has
been exacerbated by new Federal Aviation Administration work rules.
"Those new regulations
have caused mainline airlines to hire regional pilots, while simultaneously
significantly reducing the pool of new pilots from which regional carriers
themselves can hire," he noted. "Although this is an industry issue,
it directly affects us and requires us to reduce our regional partner flying,
as several of our regional partners are beginning to have difficulty flying
their schedules due to reduced new pilot availability."
Indeed, Cowen and Company
airline analyst Helane Becker on Monday noted that "mainline carriers
continue to shift their operations to mainline flying from regional flying as a
result of the industry pilot crunch." That trend, illustrated in
Cleveland, is especially troubling for regional airlines that fly on behalf of
major airlines, Becker noted.
While United expects to keep
operational bases in Cleveland for mainline pilots and flight attendants,
employee cuts would include "up to 430 airport operations positions and
approximately 40 catering personnel in Cleveland," set to begin in June.
Smisek in the memo struck a
contrite tone, calling the decision to effectively de-hub Cleveland
"difficult" and "painful" while apologizing to employees
for likely hearing about the cuts via news reports. "I wanted you to know
this information before the press found out, but unfortunately they found out
earlier than we planned," according to Smisek. A Cleveland NBC affiliate claimed
to have first reported the news on Saturday.
United
on its website vowed to reaccommodate impacted passengers, noting that those
who booked through a travel agency "will receive notification from the
agency."