American Re-Hires 17,000 Workers With Not Enough Work for All of Them

As per the terms of accepting money from the federal government’s most recent COVID-19 relief aid package, American Airlines has re-hired 17,500 workers who were furloughed back in October.

There’s just one small problem.

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The carrier doesn’t have any actual work for them to do at the moment.

Confused? Don’t be. It’s just another line item on a laundry list of weird things to have emerged in the travel industry in the wake of the coronavirus.

Employees who were let go three months ago have been brought and have begun receiving paychecks retroactive to Dec. 1, as well as paychecks for work they will perform going forward until at least March 31, as per the parameters of the $15 billion for airlines from the December stimulus.

But according to a great article in the Miami Herald, there isn’t enough work to go around. Airlines are still flying at only about 40 percent filled compared to 2019 numbers, and as a result there are fewer flights and less need for so many employees.

So, basically, workers are being paid not to work. It’s not the most ideal scenario, nor the most profitable, but it will have to work for airlines that were desperate for a cash infusion.

“Bringing nearly 19,000 team members back to work is a complex process and will take time,” Doug Parker, American Airlines Group chief executive officer, and Robert Isom, company president, said in a joint letter to employees. “While pay and benefits will be restored right away, people will be asked to return to the operation in phases.”

Executives at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American’s home base, have projected that it could be 2022 or 2023 before American and other airlines are back to their pre-COVID volume of takeoffs and landings in North Texas.