United Airlines to close Seattle flight attendant base
United Airlines will close its flight attendant base in Seattle in late January.
The carrier informed the Association of Flight Attendants union (AFA) of its plan on Tuesday, The Seattle Times reports.
"We recognize that closing any domicile places a hardship on those who live in that location," United said in a statement sent to the AFA.
United's statement to the union said "it simply does not make economic sense" to maintain the Seattle base, adding that Seattle-based attendants would be given the option to transfer to the airline's base in San Francisco.
The move will affect 264 flight attendants, United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy tells the Times.
The Times writes "United has been the main loser as rival airline giant Delta has ramped up capacity at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport over the past year, going head to head with dominant local carrier Alaska Airlines."
United's passenger traffic at Seattle has dropped about 7% year over year as of August, according to the Times. The newspaper also notes United dropped its Seattle-Tokyo nonstop in January, "ceding the route to Delta and to its Star Alliance partner airline, All Nippon Airways of Japan," in the words of the Times.
Delta's service on the Seattle-Tokyo Haneda route began in June 2013, part of a rapid domestic and international build-up Delta has been making in Seattle during the past two years. That complements Delta's longtime route between Seattle and Tokyo's Narita airport, In a side note to the Tokyo service, American has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation revoke Delta's right to fly the Seattle-Tokyo Handeda route. According to The Wall Street Journal, AA alleged in a filing that Delta is flying the route so infrequently — just 17 times between October and late March — that the rights should go to another carrier. AA says it would like to fly the route from Los Angeles, arguing it would offer more weekly flights to Haneda than Delta is currently offering from Seattle.
Back to United, McCarthy of United acknowledged to the Timesthat the airline now offers "a reduced domestic and international schedule" as compared with its schedule there in previous years. United currently offers about 35 daily departures from Seattle.