Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), the world’s second-biggest carrier, is cutting 200 administrative and management jobs after finding 2,000 voluntary buyouts didn’t reduce operating expenses enough.
The reductions are occurring across the airline in all administrative job categories, Keyra Lynn Johnson, a Delta spokeswoman, said in an interview today. Employees will leave the airline over the next several months, she said.
More than 2,000 employees, or about 3 percent of the company’s workforce of 80,000, took voluntary buyout and early retirement offers in July. The Atlanta-based airline also is reducing expenses by retiring older less efficient airplanes and consolidating facilities.
“We knew we’d met our needs on the front line” with the voluntary buyouts, Johnson said. “We did have additional cost savings we needed to achieve on the management and merit side. This is a larger cost initiative as we combat the high price of fuel and other industry pressures.”
Employees who lose their jobs will receive enhanced severance payments, company-paid health insurance for a period of time, travel benefits and career transition assistance, Johnson said.