Southwest offers buyouts to quarter of workers
By BILL HENSEL JR.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
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Southwest Airlines is offering a buyout package to more than a quarter of its employees as it strives to cut costs.
About 8,700 employees are eligible for the package, which includes a $25,000 payout, medical and dental benefits and travel privileges in some cases, Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg said today.
Dallas-based Southwest, which said last month it was slowing its growth in capacity by adding fewer planes this year, has 2,866 employees in Houston and 33,000 total.
Southwest carries more than 80 percent of the passengers who move through Houston's Hobby Airport.
Among those eligible for the buyout are flight attendants, ramp agents, customer service agents and their supervisors. Other groups include reservations, provisioning, operations and freight.
The airline offered a buyout in 2004, Berg said, as the airline industry was still feeling the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Additionally, it offered a package to employees in three of its reservations centers several years ago and made a similar offer to its field marketing department last February and in 1988.
The airline has not had furloughs or layoffs, Berg said.
"We have no plans for that," she said.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4974409.html
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