US Airways plans layoffs of pilots

PITTSBURGH -- US Airways announced plans to lay off 471 more pilots by May to offset rising fuel costs and continued weakness in the airline industry.

The bankrupt airline previously said it would lay off 286 pilots by next month. The new cuts call for 326 layoffs by Jan. 7 and 145 by May.

If all the furloughs go through, the Arlington, Va.-based airline will have trimmed about 1,800 of the 6,000 pilots it had before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"They are cutting pilots to the point where it reaches people who have been here 15 years," said a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association.