United Airlines may lay off 4,700 in Houston, Dallas

United Airlines said this week that it could lay off more than 4,700 workers in Houston and Dallas when airline stimulus restrictions end Oct. 1 but that it hopes to bring many workers back when the air travel industry recovers.

Chicago-based United announced plans Wednesday to send out layoff notices to 36,000 workers nationwide. That included a WARN Notice letter to the Texas Workforce Commission for 71 jobs at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and 3,904 at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. There were also 781 layoff notices sent to other employees in Houston, which is a major hub for United.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so much change in our personal and professional lives and will result in us being a smaller airline,” said a letter from Kate Gebo, executive vice president of human resources and labor Relations for United. “Based on current demand, while we are hopeful the reductions for our front-line team members will be temporary, we presently anticipate that they will last six months or longer.”

Houston is the former headquarters for Continental Airlines, which United acquired in 2010.

Airlines are preparing for a wave of cutbacks Oct. 1, the date that restrictions on layoffs and furloughs end for the $25 billion in stimulus grants and loans handed out to carriers.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said the Fort Worth-based company could need 20 to 30 percent fewer employees this fall. The carrier has already started laying off administrative employees.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly has said demand will be down about 30 percent in fall and that his company will likely need to cut its payroll by a similar number. Southwest has been among airlines pushing employees to take early retirement packages or voluntary time off of a year or more.

“Absent a meaningful staffing reduction through these voluntary programs, combined with a significant and sustainable rebound in traffic, the risk of furloughs and layoffs remains,” said a letter sent to some employees this week from Sonya Lacore, Southwest’s vice president of in-flight operations.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told employees in a memo Thursday that the recovery “is likely to be lengthy and slow.”

United has been the most aggressive of all the airlines in warning employees about layoffs.