=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2004/09= /10/BUGU58MFDE1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, September 10, 2004 (SF Chronicle) Alaska Air shuts Oakland base/340 maintenance workers laid off by troubled = carrier David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer Alaska Airlines closed its Oakland maintenance base Thursday and fired t= he facility's 340 employees, as the troubled carrier announced cost- cutting moves to save up to $35 million per year. The mechanics cut yesterday will receive full pay and benefits for the next nine weeks, Alaska spokesman Sam Sperry said. Their work will be performed by two outside firms that already handle 60 percent of Alaska's aircraft maintenance. "Our Oakland mechanics are highly talented and have made great strides over the past years by implementing new systems and processes," said Alaska Chief Executive Officer Bill Ayer in a prepared statement. "They did their work very well. But the sobering reality is that large-scale maintenance providers can give us the same excellent quality at a lower cost." The company also has offered Oakland mechanics a severance package that would extend health insurance benefits for a year and requires approval by the mechanics' union, Sperry said. Alaska representatives broke the news to Oakland mechanics in an early afternoon meeting in the base's break room, said Earl Clark, one of the technicians and an officer with the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association. The company, he said, gave no warning that the base would be shut down. "We got a lot of people who didn't see it coming," Clark said. "And right now, they're very shell-shocked." Although the base was officially closed Thursday, one plane undergoing maintenance there remains, he said. The airline asked for volunteers to finish work on the plane, he said. Alaska's Oakland mechanics weren't the only employees hit by the cost reductions announced Thursday. Combined with a management shakeup that started last month, the moves will cut nearly 900 of the carrier's 11,000 employees. Those steps include: -- Hiring outside contractors for all aircraft cleaning in Seattle, and = in the Alaska cities of Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. -- Outsourcing facilities maintenance and ground support. Two Oakland employees will be affected by this change. -- Bringing in another airline to handle Alaska's one daily flight to Tucson. -- Closing ticket offices in Juneau, Anchorage and Bellevue, Wash., and having Horizon Air, an Alaska partner, handle Alaska's customer service work in Spokane, Wash. The carrier has been struggling with high fuel prices, lower passenger loads and tough competition from low-cost competitors. E-mail David R. Baker at dbaker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -----------------------= ----------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle