With air travel down about 70% from last year, many carriers including United and American say they’ll be forced to cut jobs without additional aid. Delta and Southwest, two other big carriers, tapped private capital markets and say they’ll avoid layoffs.

United Airlines said Wednesday it plans to furlough 16,370 employees in October, down from an earlier target of 36,000 after thousands of workers took early retirement, buyouts, or long-term leaves of absence.

United Airlines is warning 36,000 employees — nearly half its U.S. staff — they could be furloughed in October, the clearest signal yet of how deeply the virus pandemic is hurting the airline industry.

American Airlines will start booking flights to full capacity next week, ending any effort to promote social distancing on its planes while the United States sets records for new reported cases of the coronavirus.

United Airlines is warning that the coronavirus shock could rival the financial fallout from 9/11.

United Airlines aims to trim flights, freeze hiring and halt merit pay raises as it grapples with a swift drop in travel demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The impact of the coronavirus on United Airlines is getting more serious. In the wake of a decision to pare the number of flights to Asia, the Chicago-based carrier is offering pilots who normally fly those routes the option of receiving reduced pay while not flying. 

United Airlines has withdrawn its guidance to Wall Street on full-year 2020 revenue and earnings. The Chicago-based airline cited heightened uncertainty over duration and spread of the coronavirus and its potential effect on overall air travel demand.

The Chicago-based airline says it’s purchasing Westwind School of Aeronautics in Phoenix to tackle a talent pipeline problem that it will face for at least a decade.

The Chicago-based airline is reducing flights from the U.S. to China as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.

United Airlines President Scott Kirby will take the reins in May, capping a turnaround effort at an airline that had become an industry laggard after a rocky merger with Continental Airlines as well as a national PR nightmare.

The change in the rule — it’s called “bottle-to-throttle” in the airline business — comes several days after two United pilots were arrested in Scotland and charged with suspicion of being under the influence before a flight to the U.S.

United said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit soared 54%, to $1.05 billion. The results beat expectations, and United slightly raised its forecast of full-year profit.

United is using other planes to cover some flights that had been scheduled with its 14 Max jets. However, the airline said that because of the Max’s grounding it will cancel about 1,120 flights in June and about 1,290 in July.

CEO Oscar Munoz says he will be aboard United Airlines’ first flight of a Boeing 737 Max once regulators agree to let the aircraft fly again.

The grounding of its Boeing 737 Max jets is causing United Airlines to trim growth plans for this year, and the carrier expects to discuss potential compensation with Boeing.