US Airways lays off more workers CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hundreds of flight attendants at Charlotte Douglas International Airport are out of a job after US Airways' latest round of layoffs. The first phase of layoffs furloughed 890 attendants in May, and 150 were laid off in this latest round. US Airways said it had to make the cuts because its flight schedule has been cut 4.5 percent since the war with Iraq. Many of the remaining flight attendants said they are still worried about their future. "Well, we're upset, but we're rallying together and hoping for the best," Anita Clark said. The affected hubs include Charlotte, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. US Airways' flight attendants plan protest US Airways Group Inc. flight attendants plan to picket Pittsburgh and Philadelphia international airports Thursday to protest what they call "deteriorating working conditions and worker/management relations at the airline." The attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, point to a new sick-leave policy that they contend forces flight attendants to fly when they are ill. Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for Virginia-based US Airways, says that is not the case. "We never encourage our employees to report to work if they are sick, especially our flight crews," Kudwa says. "But we believe the new sick policy strikes a balance between protecting the company from abuse and protecting flight attendants' base wages." The flight attendants contend the new policy, which was established as part of the airline's recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, provides only a fraction of a full day's pay for a sick day. They say the flight attendants' union members sacrificed hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefit concessions and increased out-of-pocket costs to help the airline restructure. Kudwa says the attendants have the option of picking up extra days following an absence due to illness and can end up getting paid for more hours than they've actually worked, under scheduling provisions in the contract. US Airways boosts ticket kiosks US Airways, which claims passengers can cut check-in times to as little as 45 seconds by using its electronic kiosks, continues to expand the availability of the electronic check in machines. US Airways says it now has 419 of the systems in place in 81 airports across the country. That's up from 252 self-service kiosks at 49 airports three months ago. The airline says 51 percent of its 2 million passengers last month opted for electronic self-service check in. While currently only available for domestic flights, US Airways says self-service check in for international flights should be available by this fall. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).