United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said 264 flight attendants based here are affected.
“We recognize that closing any domicile places a hardship on those who live in that location,” the airline said in a statement sent to the Association of Flight Attendants union (AFA).
The statement added that “it simply does not make economic sense” to maintain the Seattle base. The flight attendants will be offered the option to relocate to San Francisco, the airline said.
April Moss, a United flight attendant and AFA secretary for its local unit, said another option is to commute.
“I don’t want to move. I’ll have to commute,” Moss said.
She said it’s common in the industry for crew members to fly standby — for free — on company flights to get to work, though it is “much more challenging” than flying out of your home base.
She said even her flight-attendant friends who have kids and must commute “make it work the best they can.”
“It’s a sad time for all of us,” Moss said. “United tells us they are evaluating every base every day for its financial viability. It’s sad they didn’t consider us viable anymore. They haven’t given us any details.”
Moss said the AFA president will schedule a meeting with United management as soon as possible to discuss mitigation of the impact on union members.
United has been the main loser as rival airline giant Delta has ramped up capacity at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport over the past year, going head to head with dominant local carrier Alaska Airlines.
For this year through August, Sea-Tac passenger traffic data show United’s share at the airport was down 7 percent compared with the previous year.
In January, United canceled its transpacific nonstop from Seattle to Tokyo, ceding the route to Delta and to its Star Alliance partner airline, All Nippon Airways of Japan.
Last month, United also announced steeper than usual cuts to its domestic services during the winter months ahead.
United’s McCarthy said the airline now has “a reduced domestic and international schedule” out of Sea-Tac compared to recent years, but added that “we’re not announcing any changes to our flights going forward.”
“We still have a commitment to Seattle and will still fly there,” she said. The airline now has about 35 flights out of Sea-Tac daily, McCarthy said.
Some of the Seattle-based employees who are reluctant to move may be able to take advantage of a buyout offer United announced last month.
The airline reached a deal with the AFA to offer up to $100,000 in severance for flight attendants who volunteer to leave the company.
McCarthy said the goal is to shed at least 2,100 of the airline’s 23,000 flight attendants.
However, the AFA’s Moss said, only employees who meet certain criteria — including 15 years of service — are eligible for that offer.
(Dominic Gates - The Seattle Times)
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