United trying to balance flight attendant staffing

• Reprints

The company that runs United and Continental airlines is asking flight attendants for flexibility so it can avoid potential furloughs next year.

United Continental Holdings Inc. says it will soon have almost 1,800 too many flight attendants next year when that many return from a voluntary furlough. But it will be 900 short at Continental.

The company will eventually combine United and Continental into one airline, but until then it operates them separately. Flight attendants at United and Continental have separate unions, and their contracts don’t allow them to work on each other’s flights. The company is hoping to change that and avoid involuntary furloughs.