By Prensa Latina,
Washington : US air company Continental Airlines announced the firing of 3,000 employees and the reduction of its flights by 11 per cent Thursday, as a result of the hike in oil prices.
The measures are indispensable to face the extremely high cost of fuels, said Continental Airlines officials Larry Kellner and Jeff Smisek Thursday.
Both executives said the measures will be enforced as of September, though some people might lose their jobs even before.
The layoffs will affect 6.5 per cent of the Continental Airlines payroll, which is estimated in 45,000 jobs.
A total of 67 planes will stop transporting passengers, said the executives of the airline, one of the US main air companies.
In the last months, the most important US airlines took similar decisions.
US airline United Airlines published its intentions to lay off at least 1,400 employees and remove 100 planes from service.
Other companies were Delta, Northwest and US Airways.