United Considering Outsourcing Some Airport Jobs

In an effort to cut costs by US$2bn a year as per 2013 objectives, United Airlines gave some 2,000 of its workers notice on January 12 that their jobs are on the line. The airline announced that jobs up for review included baggage handlers and gate and customer service agents at 28 airports, from Atlanta to Connecticut, but no firm decisions have been made as yet. In an investor update on January 9, United announced that it expects 2014 unit costs to increase by up to 1.4% year-on-year, not including fuel and other special charges.

“We need to ensure our costs are competitive and we are considering transitioning some of our operations at select airports to an outside vendor,” United spokesman, Luke Punzenberger, said. United has long faced competition from Delta Air Lines and American Air Lines, United Senior Vice President of Operations Jon Roitman said in a letter to affected employees: “our major competitors… have workforce arrangements, including market competitive sourcing, that allow them to operate in these stations at significantly lower costs that are more in line with local markets.”

This is the latest in a series of manoeuvres by the airline to cut costs by cutting labour, with the company having outsourced nearly 500 jobs to outside vendors in 2013 and more than 600 jobs at 12 other US airports in autumn 2014. Subsequently, United reported an increase of 99% in the third quarter of 2014 over the third quarter of 2013, its highest-ever quarterly profit.

Most of the jobs under review are held by workers who were employed before April 2006, whose union contracts prevent them from being laid off. If United decides to proceed with outsourcing, it would have to offer these workers a job elsewhere in the company, although employees could decline, according to a source close to the situation.

Now that United has notified the International Association of Machinists officially of its review, it will enter negotiations with the union to see how it could retain workers within the airline.

Textron acquires Douglas Equipment

Douglas Equipment, a manufacturer of GSE based in Cheltenham, England, will now operate as part of Textron Specialized Vehicles’ companies’ GSE business. Textron Ground Support Equipment UK acquired the Douglas Equipment business from Curtiss-Wright Flow Control UK, a subsidiary of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. The Douglas brand will join the Textron Specialized Vehicles companies’ stable of brands alongside TUG™, E-Z-GO, Cushman, and Bad Boy Buggies. Douglas Equipment is well suited to the Textron Specialized Vehicles group, as its specialization in towbarless and conventional aircraft tractors and runway friction measurement systems complements TUG Technologies’ leadership in baggage and tow tractors, pushbacks, belt loaders, ground power units, air-starts, and mobile HVAC units. Douglas will continue to operate from its UK facilities in Cheltenham and Poyle, UK with its workforce of more than 90 employees intact. Kevin Holleran, president of the Textron Specialized Vehicles group of Textron said: “We are excited to welcome Douglas to the Textron Specialized Vehicles family and to our ground support equipment business. The acquisition of Douglas and its unique brand and products, only a few months after our acquisition of TUG last spring, demonstrates our commitment to the GSE industry and our many customers.”

IAG Cargo expands Cargo Connector service

On 14 January, IAG Cargo announced it has launched its new Cargo Connector service in San Francisco, the tenth of an original seven cities on its global network to benefit from the service. In addition to services available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle and Houston, IAG Cargo’s collection service is also available in the UK, at London Heathrow, and in Frankfurt, Germany. Drivers in IAG Cargo-branded vans collect freight and process new cargo bookings on-the-spot, making connection to IAG Cargo’s network of 350 destinations simple and efficient. The Connector vans are never far away when a pickup is required, with 95% of customers based within a 5 mile radius of the airport.

Freight forwarders in San Francisco can now also have IAG Cargo collect and courier shipments of less than 300 kilograms direct from their premises to the airport, at no extra cost. Joe Le Beau, Regional Commercial Manager North America, at IAG Cargo, said: “It’s great to see that we’ve already expanded Cargo Connector to ten cities worldwide. Following the positive response from the trial period, Cargo Connector in San Francisco has become a firm favourite with the local freight forwarding community. Not only is Cargo Connector proving more cost efficient for smaller freight forwarders that would normally pay a third party to deliver their freight, but also with our GKA’s who really appreciate the peace of mind this service offers.” He went on to say: “Our customers have been pleasantly surprised how quickly the Cargo Connector van arrives at their facility to collect freight just 15 minutes after we have finalised their booking details. As well as offering our customers two daily flights to our Heathrow hub, the Connector van has been the perfect addition to our business at San Francisco, and has taken our customer service to a completely higher level.”