More than 1,000 workers who clean cabins and provide janitorial services for Delta Air Lines planes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are being laid off in April.
ABM Aviation, a division of New York-based ABM Industries Inc. (NYSE: ABM) which supports airlines and airports with services ranging from parking and janitorial to passenger assistance, catering logistics, air cabin maintenance, and transportation, says in a notice filed with the state of Georgia that beginning April 12, it will cease providing cabin cleaning and janitorial services for Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) at the Atlanta airport.
The company plans to lay off a total of 1,121 workers.
"This action is expected to be a permanent action for ABM, and we understand that DGS [Delta Global Services] will be assuming this contract effective April 12, 2019," the notice states.
ABM spokesperson Jennifer Miller said in an email to Atlanta Business Chronicle, "Delta Air Lines is transitioning the cabin cleaning and janitorial services contract at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to another supplier, DGS, effective April 12. ABM values its partnership with Delta and is committed to ensuring a smooth transition of these services to their new supplier. We continue to provide services for Delta at Hartsfield and at airports across the U.S. Employees can interview for other roles within ABM, and we understand the new supplier may be interviewing employees for job opportunities within their company, which is a common practice."
Those being laid off include 779 cabin agents, 206 "Leads", 86 general cleaners, 19 dispatchers and 19 managers, according to the notice. To read ABM's letter to the Georgia Department of Labor, click here.
Last November, ABM said it would cut 133 employees at Orlando International Airport in 2019 after a new company takes over cleaning services for Delta. And last August, ABM cut 600 workers at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport after losing a contract at the transportation hub for American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL).
In September 2017, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that ABM laid off 1,179 workers who had provided passenger services at the Atlanta airport when Delta Global Services began providing those services.
ABM Aviation generated revenues of just over $1 billion in 2018. The company's aviation services agreements are typically re-bid upon renewal. ABM says two clients, which it does not identify, accounted for approximately 31 percent of ABM Aviation's revenues in 2018.
Two of ABM's principal properties are located in Atlanta, an IT data center in Alpharetta and operations support in Atlanta.
