Alaska Airlines is warning of thousands of lay-offs as it prepares for a slow recovery.
As many as 3,000 jobs – more than 10% of the workforce – could be lost.
Downsizing will probably begin in October when government payroll-protection money runs out.
"Things will likely not go back to pre-Covid levels in the next 12 months. We see a smaller company in 2021. We see a smaller industry, in fact. We think we’ll be smaller by about 3,000 people," said Alaska Air Group president Ben Minicucci.
"We went from carrying 130,000 passengers a day to a trough of just 5,000 a day," Minicucci said of the impact of Covid-19 as countries around the world closed national and state borders.
Last week during a company webcast Minicucci hinted that about 3,000 jobs would likely go.
Demand has picked up but overall it is still carrying about 80% less passengers than normal.
The airline says about 5,000 are currently taking voluntary and unpaid leave.
Meanwhile the airline outlined new safety measures starting June 30 which include blocked middle seats until the end of July.
It expanded the Next-Level Care program with pre-flight health questionnaires, the wearing of face masks and hand sanitizing wipes available onboard starting in July.
Boarding procedure has been revised and passengers will embark in smaller groups dependent on row numbers from the back to the front.
