American intends to furlough up to 175 pilots over the next six months, although it is negotiating with the pilots’ union to reduce the total through various voluntary options.

The carrier is talking with the Allied Pilots Association to “develop possible furlough mitigation.” The carrier is contractually obliged to offer a “stand-in-stead” program where pilots can volunteer to take the place of a furloughed colleague, an airline spokeswoman said. APA said it is “hoping to compel” American to offer voluntary leaves of absence and early retirement incentives to minimize the furlough numbers.

American plans to complete the first round of furloughs – comprising 80 pilots – by the end of February, with the remainder leaving the company before June. These will be American’s first furloughs since 2005, the spokeswoman said. The job cuts are intended to align pilot numbers with capacity cuts over the past 18 months, and to account for lower-than-expected attrition.