United cuts back on some flight staff

Chicago -- U.S. carrier United Airlines will cut back on flight attendants for some flights under five hours long, union officials said.

The staff change, triggered by rising fuel costs, means there will be four, rather than five, attendants on Boeing 757 flights, Crain's Business Journal reported.

"There are a lot of reasons the airlines are in the shape they're in," said Gregory Davidowitch, president of the Association of Flight Attendants at United.

"This is one of them. It's bad for passengers, bad for flight attendants. They've both lost a lot the past few years. It doesn't have to be this way."

The airline offered 200 flight attendants voluntary leaves from work of two to three months, the report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.