United Airlines
United reportedly planning to close three foreign flight attendant bases in October due to the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Colin Brown Photography.

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US carrier United Airlines is reportedly considering the closure of three flight attendant bases in October.

The move follows as the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to impact the global aviation industry, especially the international air transportation system.

The travel restrictions and shelter-in-place orders have damaged demand for international flights.

As outlined in a company’s memo seen by CNBC, the three bases are located in Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Tokyo.

The airline operator has a total of 840 flight attendants operating in the bases. They could be granted an option to ‘transfer to US bases’.

United in-flight services senior vice-president John Slater was quoted by CNBC as saying: “This was certainly a very difficult decision to make, and we recognise that closing any base places a hardship on those who live near those locations.

“In the current and future environment, we simply are not able to sustain an Inflight Base at these locations.

“While no other base changes are anticipated [at] this time, we’ll continue to evaluate the viability of all locations based on the network schedule, government travel restrictions and restoration of demand.”

Earlier this month, United reportedly revealed plans to lay off 13 of its 67 senior-executive officers as part of its cost reduction measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In April, the carrier announced its plans to reduce its flights in May by 90% as the pandemic decreases passenger traffic.