美国联合航空公司告诉36,000名员工他们可能会失去工作

美国联合航空公司告诉36,000名员工他们可能会失去工作

The devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the air travel industry is becoming clearer, as United Airlines announced on Wednesday that it may need to cut its U.S.-based workforce nearly in half when federal payroll funding runs out in October.

随着美国联合航空公司周三宣布，在联邦政府10月份的工资拨款用完后，它可能需要削减近一半在美国的员工人数，冠状病毒流行病对航空业的破坏性影响正变得越来越明显。

On Wednesday, the Chicago-based airline notified 36,000 employees, about 45% of the company's domestic employees, that they may lose their jobs on or after Oct. 1.

周三，这家总部位于芝加哥的航空公司通知36,000名员工(约占公司国内员工的45%)，他们可能在10月1日或之后失去工作。

Demand for air travel continues to be weak, as the number of airline passengers is down about 75% compared with what it was last year at this time. And a recent uptick in demand leading into and through the July Fourth holiday weekend appears short-lived, as rising numbers of new coronavirus infections in many states have led to another sharp drop in airline bookings and an increase in passenger cancellations.

航空旅行的需求继续疲软，航空乘客数量与去年同期相比下降了约75%。由于美国许多州新增冠状病毒感染病例增多，航空公司机票预订再次大幅下降，取消航班的乘客也有所增加，导致7月4日假期周末期间及整个假期的需求回升似乎只是短暂的。

United executives call the pandemic the worst crisis in the airline's history, and in a message sent out to all employees on Wednesday morning, they said that they've taken aggressive steps to cut costs and raise capital but that the airline is still losing about $40 million a day.

美联航高管称此次疫情是该公司历史上最严重的危机，并在周三上午发给全体员工的信息中表示，他们已采取积极措施削减成本和筹集资金，但该公司仍在每天亏损约4000万美元。

So United is warning about 15,000 flight attendants, 11,000 gate agents and airport customer service representatives, 5,500 mechanics and airplane maintenance workers and 2,250 pilots, among other employees, that they may be involuntarily furloughed on Oct. 1. That's when the $5 billion in federal payroll grants that United received runs out.

因此，美联航警告约1.5万名空乘人员、1.1万名登机口工作人员和机场客服代表、5500名机械师和飞机维修工人、2250名飞行员以及其他员工，他们可能在10月1日被迫休假。到那时，美联航收到的50亿美元联邦工资补助就会用完。

And other airlines will likely follow with announcements of their own mass layoffs or furloughs, as the industry projects a long and slow recovery.

其他航空公司可能会紧随其后，宣布大规模裁员或强制休假，因为航空业预计将迎来漫长而缓慢的复苏。

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, calls the projected furlough numbers at United "a gut punch, but they are also the most honest assessment we've seen on the state of the industry."

空乘协会主席萨拉·尼尔森称联合航空公司的计划休假数字是“令人震惊的，但这也是我们所见过的对行业状况最诚实的评估。”

"This crisis dwarfs all others in aviation history, and there's no end in sight," Nelson said.

“这次危机让航空史上的其他危机相形见绌，而且看不到尽头，”尼尔森说。

Congress allocated $25 billion in direct payroll grants to the airlines and made another $25 billion available to them in loans. United is one of 10 airlines that on Tuesday announced they had signed a letter of intent to secure the loans.

国会向航空公司直接发放了250亿美元的工资补助，并提供了另外250亿美元的贷款。联合航空是周二宣布已签署意向书以获得贷款的10家航空公司之一。

The airlines and their employee unions are lobbying Congress for another $25 billion in federal aid in hopes of preventing mass layoffs.

航空公司及其员工工会正在游说国会，希望获得另外250亿美元的联邦援助，以防止大规模裁员。