AMERICAN AIRLINES SENDING ABOUT 13,000 FURLOUGH WARNINGS

American Airlines is telling about 13,000 employees they are at risk of furlough when a U.S. aid package for airline workers expires on April 1, the company said Wednesday. Fort Worth, Texas-based American furloughed 19,000 workers when a previous round of government payroll support ended on Oct. 1 but recalled them in December after a fresh US$15 billion for the industry came through. The company hoped pandemic-hit demand would rebound by then, but slow rollouts of vaccines and the emergence of coronavirus variants are delaying the recovery, fuelling a push by aviation unions for another US$15 billion in U.S. payroll assistance. “We are nearly five weeks into 2021, and unfortunately, we find ourselves in a situation similar to much of 2020,” Chief Executive Doug Parker and President Robert Isom told employees.