United to move operations staff to suburb in blow to Chicago

United plans to move the network operations center that coordinates its flights globally to a Chicago suburb next year, slashing headcount at the carrier’s world headquarters at Blackstone’s Willis Tower. The move was announced internally on Thursday and would affect about 900 employees such as managers and technical support staff, United said. About 400 flight dispatchers could eventually join them. The airline is in contract talks with their union, whose collective bargaining agreement requires that they be based at Willis, according to Craig Symons, the union’s leader. Another 2,500 headquarters staffers will continue to work at the iconic skyscraper formerly known as Sears Tower, where United is plowing millions of dollars into renovations. That’s “roughly the same number of employees we had in the city 10 years ago,” company spokesman Charlie Hobart said by email. “In terms of whether United is considering moving its headquarters out of downtown, the answer is no. We remain committed to the city of Chicago.” The airline plans to make a new complex in Arlington Heights, Illinois, its primary nerve center effective April 1, with Willis serving as a back-up, David Kensick, a managing director for the airline, wrote in a memo. United closed a deal Wednesday to purchase the suburban facility, which had played a supporting role since it was opened last year by providing socially distant work stations for staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.<br/>