American action boosts Vegas airline layoff total

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.

American Airlines' planned closure of its 32,000-square-foot reservation center in April will result in the second-largest group of layoffs in the aviation industry in Las Vegas since the terrorist attacks.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline -- the nation's largest and McCarran International Airport's fifth busiest -- said Tuesday that about 350 people would lose their jobs when the center closes its doors April 4. That brings the number of local aviation industry employees to be laid off since Sept. 11 to more than 1,500.

An American spokeswoman said the airline would offer early retirement and transfers within the company as options for agents that work at the call center at 500 E. Warm Springs Road. Workers at the office were told of the planned closure Tuesday morning.

A spokeswoman for the state of Nevada's Rapid Response employment program -- which assists workers laid off from their jobs as a result of closures and mergers -- said her agency had been contacted about assisting employees who will lose their jobs as a result of the center's closure.

The company proposes to save $80 million in its layoffs of agents and airline representatives. Other employee groups also have been targeted in layoffs.

The American layoffs represent the second-largest group of aviation industry employees given pink slips in Las Vegas since Sept. 11. In November, 1,200 local employees of National Airlines lost their jobs when the Las Vegas-based airline folded.

The largest airline serving McCarran, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, did not lay off any employees following the terrorist attacks. In Las Vegas, the company added staff, creating more than 175 new jobs in 2002. The airline has about 900 employees in Las Vegas.

The No. 2 carrier at McCarran, America West Airlines, laid off an undisclosed number of employees in Las Vegas, but called back all of its workers by mid-2002. The airline has 1,030 Las Vegas employees.

Chicago-based United Airlines, the No. 3 carrier at McCarran, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year. The company did not say how many of its 452 Las Vegas employees have been or would be affected by layoffs.

Officials with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, the No. 4 carrier at McCarran, said the company had no layoffs, reducing its force slightly through attrition.