Beacon Council Ready To Help Laid Off AA Workers
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami's Beacon Council plans to set up a new job placement center to help any American Airlines workers who may be laid off.
On Wednesday AMR, the parent company of the Ft. Worth based air carrier, announced that they would be cutting 13,000 positions, or about 15 percent of the workforce. American Air did not say where the cuts would take place.
Here in South Florida, American Air employees about 9,000 workers. The air carrier is responsible for more than half the traffic at Miami International Airport with roughly 300 flights a day.
While local layoffs could impact more than a thousand workers, American Air officials said Miami would remain one of the top five hubs for the company. They added that they planned to extend the number of flights out of Miami by about 20 percent.
American Air has also reportedly targeted cutting its pension plant to try and trim $2 billion a year from its budget.
Last November, the air carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
AMR posted a loss of more than The company lost $904 million in December which was more than in the first nine months of 2011 combined. The losses came despite American charging an average of 7 percent more on tickets than in the second quarter, and imposing fees for some previously free services.
