Some employees have left AirTran Airways as the company prepares to be acquired by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines in the next few months, but AirTran chief executive Bob Fornaro said he expects Southwest to try to maintain much of AirTran’s work force.
Fornaro said much of the attrition has been in areas such as finance or IT, where employees can easily move to other jobs. Orlando-based AirTran has also announced that Stephen Kolski, executive vice president of corporate affairs, is retiring April 29.
“Certain jobs are going to gravitate towards Dallas because that is the headquarters,” Fornaro said. But, “I think Southwest is going to make a very good effort to accommodate most of our people.” About 6,000 of AirTran’s 8,000 employees are based in the Atlanta metro area.
Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the company has “every intent” of offering all AirTran employees an opportunity at Southwest. Some jobs may require relocation.
AirTran is also hiring customer service workers and flight attendants this year.
The company has made an effort to retain certain employees who might be tempted to leave, setting aside $10.2 million for retention bonuses for management and administrative workers.
Fornaro gets a bonus for staying at least six months past the close of the merger. He can earn about $5.7 million from the merger, including pay, bonuses, benefits, accelerated stock awards and a two-year consulting agreement.
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