In my Indiana bankruptcy blogs, I’ve been sharing both good news and bad about the job market in different parts of the state. As a bankruptcy lawyer, I have a very intense interest in jobs, which are a key factor for my clients as they rebuild their financial lives following bankruptcy. While we Hoosiers have enjoyed quite a lot of excellent news on the economic development front, the airline industry has delivered another bad news blow.
In earlier blogs, (see ATA Business Bankruptcy Plan Blown To BIts and More On The ATA Business Bankruptcy Story), I noted that 560 Indianapolis workers lost their jobs when ATA shut down. Now we learn that Republic Airways will eliminate 500 jobs in the next few months. Republic focuses on a business sector different from the one ATA served. ATA transported supplies and troops via FedEx for the Pentagon, while Republic flies on contract for big airlines (Continental Connection, Delta Express, American Connection, U.S. Airways Express, etc.). These big airlines are reducing operations, hence the reductions at Republic.
Having served as a consumer bankruptcy attorney for close to twenty-five years,
I know all too well that job layoffs are one of the three leading causes of bankruptcy. I also know that airline jobs tend a)to be on the higher end of the pay scale and b) to require skills not easily transferable to other industries (think about all the pilots, for example – Republic had hired 670 new ones not longer than a year ago!)
It’s hard to keep planes soaring when oil prices are doing that.