Continental lays off 50 in
Honolulu; Delta cuts
13,000 worldwide

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

Continental Airlines is laying off some 50 workers at its maintenance facility at Honolulu Airport, but not because of the setback to tourism caused by the Sept. 11 hijackings. The airline doesn't need as many people here because it has speeded up the replacement of its McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 fleet with more-efficient Boeing 767-400ER aircraft said a spokeswoman for the airline, Georgette Deemer.

The transition, which had been scheduled for completion in the first quarter of next year now will be all done by Oct. 1.

The airline has not changed the number of flights in its Hawaii service and the layoffs, those at the maintenance facility and another 15 or so at Continental Chelsea Flight Kitchen, are solely because of the fleet change, Deemer said.

The flight kitchen employs about 100. Employment figures for the maintenance facility were not immediately available. When construction of the 82,000-square-foot hangar began in 1998, state officials said would be staffed by about 100 mechanics and would create 100 other jobs.

Deemer said the layoff numbers are not exact because the employment situation is not completely resolved.

In other news ...

Delta Air Lines said today that it will cut up to 13,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force, because of declining air travel following the terrorist attacks two weeks ago.

Delta also trimmed capacity by 15 percent, sayings its planes are only about a third full on most flights.

"War was declared on the United States of America, using aviation as the instrument of destruction," Delta Chairman Leo F. Mullin said. "As a result, the operational and financial outlook for airlines has changed precipitously, and drastic measures are required if we are to avoid being among the first economic casualties of the war."

Delta was the last of the nation's six major airlines to announce cuts in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Overall, U.S. airlines plan to trim about 93,000 jobs and Boeing Co. up to 30,000 more by the end of next year.

Outside the United States, Air Canada said today it was laying off 5,000 more employees while Scandinavian Airlines System said it will cut up to 1,100 jobs. British Airways, Swissair and other carriers have also announced cutbacks.

Delta spokesman Tom Donahue said the airline has lost about $1 billion since the attacks. The company will get about $600 million from the $5 billion cash relief approved by Congress last week, he said.