=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/c/a/2007/07/18/BUGGGR27RS= 1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, July 18, 2007 (SF Chronicle) Southwest offers buyouts to workers/Airline seeks to cut costs by getting r= id of senior employees Meredith Cohn, Baltimore Sun (07-18) 04:00 PDT Dallas -- Southwest Airlines Co. Tuesday offered buyou= ts to more than a quarter of its workforce, a move that officials expect will help the carrier remain profitable as it grapples with its two largest costs: labor and fuel. The airline employs more than 33,200 people. It's approaching those with more than a decade of service, about 8,700 workers, but workers and observers expect that Southwest will replace each person who leaves with someone earning less money. Southwest has offered buyouts once in its 36-year history, in 2004. Known for its fun and productive working culture, Southwest reported that it received 85 times as many resumes as it had openings last year. Most other major carriers have cut staff and salaries since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks devastated the industry. The Air Transport Association, the domestic carriers' trade group, reported that employment industrywide has dropped 27 percent since the attacks, to about 397,600. "Labor is such a large part of our costs, we wanted to offer employees a voluntary program, knowing they could choose to accept or decline," said Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger. "It will be attractive to some and not others." She said there was no target number of workers and couldn't immediately provide a cost-savings estimate. She also could not say what would happen if not enough workers accept the offer. The buyout offer would give each worker $25,000 in cash and some continu= ed health and travel benefits based on age and years of service. The offer will go to union workers and supervisors in areas including reservations, baggage and customer service, as well as flight attendants -- which comprise the majority of the workforce. It does not include pilots, mechanics or administrative office workers. Michael Massoni, a first vice president of the flight attendants' union, said the move was not "giving anyone heartburn." He said, "It is voluntary, and we fully understand what Southwest wants = to do, which is pare down costs by tempting higher-paid workers to take an early retirement with a cash bonus." He said there are about 9,000 flight attendants, and he estimates about 2,000 would be eligible for the buyout. Southwest flight attendants earn from $23 to $58 an hour. "As successful as Southwest has been, the market has changed a lot around it," said Dan Kasper, managing director of LECG, a Cambridge, Mass., consulting firm that tracks the airline business. "And some adjustments are pretty clearly called for." He said the airline is likely to hire new workers to replace many of tho= se who take buyouts, but at lower wages. -------------------------------------= --------------------------------- Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".