American Airlines Subsidiary to Lay Off 478 Jobs

As American Airlines celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Miami hub, one of its subsidiaries plans to close its own hub there and eliminate 478 jobs.

Envoy Air Inc., a subsidiary of American's parent company, American Airlines Group, has informed state officials that it will lay off employees in transportation and warehousing from Jan.1 through April 30.

Formerly American Eagle Airlines, the carrier changed its name to Envoy in April to better distinguish itself from another company subsidiary — regional carrier American Eagle. Envoy plans to shrink daily operations at its Miami hub from 60 to 37 flights by Dec. 18, according to a letter filed with the layoff notice.

As part of its downsizing in Miami, Envoy will close its hub and move 369 flight attendants and pilots based there, spokeswoman Martha Thomas said Thursday. Those positions will be phased out starting in January. Fewer than 50 positions — mostly in management — will be permanently lost, she said.

The Envoy flights to be dropped will be picked up by Republic Airways, which will operate larger two-class 76-seat Embraer planes on those routes, Thomas said. "It's important for customers to know they're not losing flight service because of this."

Meanwhile, American is touting its own Miami hub, which it began with the acquisition of Eastern Airlines' Latin America routes, a decade after American began serving Miami International Airport in 1979.

In 1989 American operated fewer than 20 daily flights from MIA but has grown to more than 340 daily flights to 122 destinations.

"American Airlines is without a doubt one of the community partners that has had the greatest impact on our local economy," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a statement.

American accounts for nearly 70 percent of the flights at the Miami airport, he noted. From its Miami hub, the airline provides connections to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, as well as many U.S. destinations.

This year, American added daily service to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on Oct. 2, and will launch its 10th destination in Brazil, Campinas, on Dec. 2. American also plans to add service from Miami to Austin, Kansas City, Salt Lake City and San Antonio, starting March 5, and a new international flight to Frankfurt, Germany, in the first half of 2015.

Source: The Sun Sentinel