Amtrak Plans Deep Workforce Cuts Ahead of Slow Pandemic Recovery
- Cuts of as much as 20% designed to save $350 million next year
- Ridership is down 95% from last year on depressed demand
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Amtrak is preparing to slash its workforce by as much as 20% in its upcoming fiscal year as the U.S.’s lone nationwide passenger railroad braces for a slow recovery to ridership that’s been gutted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Amtrak projects ridership will return to just half of 2019 levels in its upcoming fiscal year beginning in October, Amtrak Chief Executive Officer William Flynn said in a memo to employees. The railroad has already reduced service and taken other cost-cutting measures amid a 95% decline in ridership and revenue but further reductions are needed to align with a sustained period of depressed demand, he said.