Still, that's fewer furloughs than United predicted in July, when it warned 36,000 employees that they could lose their jobs.
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The number of furloughs is being reduced because thousands of United employees have taken early retirement, buyouts, or long-term leaves of absence.
The breakdown by group of affected workers is as follows:
Airport Operations 2,260
Catering Operations 320
Contact Centers 430
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Flight Operations 2,850
Inflight Services 6,920
Management and Administrative 1,400
Network Operations Center (NOC) 180
Technical Operations 2,010
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Total: 16,370
The involuntary furloughs would be postponed if Washington approves billions more in payroll aid to the nation's airlines.
United already got $5 billion, and that money came with a prohibition on furloughs or layoffs until Oct. 1.
Previously, the airline said it had taken numerous measures to cut spending and avoid layoffs, such as cutting executive pay and establishing hiring freezes.
United recently announced they were dropping change fees for passengers. Delta and American Airlines quickly followed suit. The moves come as United and other airlines try desperately to lure people back to flying despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. U.S. air travel has recovered modestly since April, but passenger traffic remains down about 70% from a year ago.
The video above is from previous reporting.