Mar 21, 2020 - Health

Airport workers face layoffs across the U.S. as coronavirus spreads

Rashaan Ayesh

Delta airplanes at the JFK airport in New York — Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Thousands of airport employees are being let go across the United States as the novel coronavirus continues to spread and negatively impacts the travel industry.

The latest: More than 1,200 workers were laid off by OTG on Wednesday, which operates stores and restaurants at La Guardia, Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports in New York, according to The New York Times.

OTG informed its employees they would not receive severance and their health insurance would expire on March 31.
Lawrence Schwartz, a senior executive at OTG, told the Times he and other executives will take a 50% pay cut and will forgo bonuses.

The big picture:

Hundreds of low-wage workers have also been laid off at the Philadelphia International Airport, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
More than 150 people in restaurant jobs at Orlando International Airport were given their "notice of termination" this week, per the Orlando Sentinel.
The control tower at Chicago's Midway International Airport closed after "several" employees tested positive for coronavirus.

Be smart via Axios' Dion Rabouin: “There is a lot of uncertainty around coronavirus, and it is pretty clear that it is having an effect on travel demand — not just from China, and not just internationally, but for domestic business and leisure travel as well," USTA president and CEO Roger Dow said in a statement.

Go deeper: Coronavirus to deliver largest decline in international travel to U.S. since financial crisis

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Airport workers face layoffs across the U.S. as coronavirus spreads

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