United Airlines to temporarily lay off 950 pilots

United Airlines will temporarily lay off about 950 pilots by the end of 2009 as a result of plans to reduce the fleet by 100 aircraft to cope with surging oil prices, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The pilot cuts will begin with 100 jobs to be reduced in September, the month the airline starts to shrink, and will proceed into 2009, said Keith Rimer, the airline's system chief pilot.

"Furloughs are an unfortunate and difficult reality for the airline industry," he was quoted as saying.

Other big airlines also have announced plans in recent weeks to shrink their operations, ground older aircraft, defer deliveries of new planes on order and cut jobs to deal with surging oil prices.