US low-cost carrier JetBlue has entered an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to avoid involuntary furloughs.
A union memo sent to pilots said that JetBlue’s Master Executive Council (MEC) of the APLA voted in favour of the agreement.
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The union memo said that the agreement ‘protects all JetBlue pilots from involuntary furloughs under any circumstances until 1 May 2021’.
Further details about the agreement were not disclosed in the memo.
ALPA told Reuters in a statement: “After thorough and productive discussions, the ALPA JetBlue pilots were able to secure strong pilot furlough protections in this agreement.”
In April, JetBlue announced that it will receive $936m from the US Treasury Department under the Payroll Support Program as part of the CARES Act.
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By GlobalDataAccording to JetBlue’s 2019 annual report, the carrier had a total of more than 21,000 employees and 3,600 pilots.
The union told CNBC: “Airline pilots have been on the front lines of this public health crisis and were part of the first wave of those directly impacted by the associated economic fallout.”
Several airlines are taking significant actions to stabilise the business and reduce costs as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact travel demand.
Last month, Delta Air Lines reportedly considered informing more than 2,500 pilots about potential furloughs.
In a separate development, US carrier American Airlines decided to realign its long-haul international schedule for late-2020 through mid-2021.
