United Airlines announced Monday that it will furlough 600 of its 13,500 active flight attendants this summer, after it furloughed 1,550 last year (some of whom still have not returned to work). Last year's furloughs were mainly voluntary, and United hopes to receive volunteers for this round as well. Volunteer furloughs will range from 10 to 30 months, while forced furloughs will have no time limit. This year's furloughs are scheduled to begin at the end of the summer, on August 31. The company cites the poor economy and a unusually low rate of turnover as the main reasons for the implementation of further furloughs. United's traffic this May was 12.3% percent lower than the same month last year.
See "UAL to furlough another 600 flight attendants", The New York Times, June 21, 2009