American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) “must plan for operating a smaller airline for the foreseeable future,” the carrier told its employees on May 28. This will include cutting its 17,000 management and support staff by 30% - a reduction of about 5,000 jobs.

The carrier has also started to accept volunteers to take buyouts - voluntary severance packages - for the next two weeks, until June 10. It will make forced cuts if not enough people come forward.

Volunteers will get a third of their pay until the end of 2020, plus five years of travel privileges. American will extend this option next month to frontline staff, such as cabin crew, it said in a company memo viewed by CNBC.

According to another company memo, employees laid off after October 1 will not receive a severance package.

“Although our pre-pandemic liquidity, the significant financial assistance provided by the government, and the cash we’ve raised in the capital markets provide a foundation for stability, we need to reduce our cost structure, including our most significant expense - the cost of compensation and benefits,” Elise Eberwein, the company’s executive vice president for people and global engagement, outlined.

“Running a smaller airline means we will need a management and support staff team that is roughly 30% leaner,” she added.

Demand for air travel has increased, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said during a conference call on the same day, with flights 56% full over the Memorial Day weekend, up from just 15% in April.

“We are still flying 20% of our schedule, but on that much-reduced schedule, we are definitely seeing more demand than we were seeing in prior months. We recognise we’re a long way off from a full recovery, but we certainly believe that the worst is behind us and we’re on the uptick,” he said.

Before the current crisis, American had about 130,000 employees. Around 39,000 have so far taken voluntary leave or early retirement, CNBC reported.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to his staff on May 28 that from the following day they would be able to make use of buyout and early retirement programmes. Unionised pilots will also soon be offered early retirement deals.

“Every voluntary departure helps to protect the jobs of those who most need them,” he appealed.

And United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has revealed it will cut management staff by 30% when US government payroll aid ends on September 30.