More Casualties of the Oil War

Keep clapping, maybe tinkerbell will flicker back to life; meanwhile the rest of us have to deal with reality.

United Airlines will eliminate at least 1,000 salaried and management jobs by the end of the year as part of its efforts to reduce costs, CEO Glenn Tilton said Wednesday.

The employees to be laid off from the nation's second-largest airline represent about 11 percent of its 9,400 salaried workers and nearly 2 percent of the company's work force of approximately 57,000.

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Soaring oil costs have continued to hurt the bottom line for United and other carriers, and Tilton said the airline is refining its route schedule accordingly, although he did not specify flights to be dropped.

"Said simply, some long-haul routes that worked at $50 a barrel don't fly at $65 a barrel," he said. "We'll continue to redeploy assets to other opportunities, such as the recently announced Washington-Kuwait route, which we'll initiate in the fall."

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Worry not, dear readers, at least you can sleep well knowing that yet another oil company has posted record profits. The "economy is strong" according to the former oil executive currently occupying the White House. I bet the laid off workers from United Airlines are not clapping in applause at his team's performance.

Crossposted at The Left End of the Dial