Nearly 17,000 Southwest employees sign up for buyouts, voluntary leave as furlough threat looms

More airline employees are signing up for buyouts, leaves of absence and early retirements as the threat of furloughs looms this summer amid the Covid-19 crisis. Close to 17,000 employees or about 28% of Southwest’s workforce has signed up for partially paid extended leaves of absence or outright buyouts, the company’s CEO, Gary Kelly, told employees Monday. Nearly 4,400 put their hands up for buyouts while close to 12,500 expressed interest in extended time off, Kelly said in a staff memo. Airline executives have urged employees to take unpaid or partially paid time off to cut costs. The terms of $25b in federal aid prohibit carriers from furloughing or laying off workers until Oct. 1, though unions are pushing for billions more in aid to protect their jobs through the end of March 2021. The approaching expiration of the current round of aid means airline employees have to weigh potential furloughs against buyouts that include severance and an extension of health-care benefits. Companies are offering a host of buyout and early retirement programs as well as unpaid or partially paid temporary time off that provide health-care benefits but reduce carriers’ labour expense. The results of the programs comes as demand for air travel eases during the all-important summer travel season. “Overall, I’m very pleased with the response to these programs,” Kelly said in the memo. “I’m incredibly grateful to those of you who answered the call. I know there are stories behind every one of those 16,895 decisions — from your incredible history at Southwest Airlines, to stories of what’s ahead in your next phase.”<br/>