American Airlines Flight Attendants "Narrowly Reject" Concessions - AMR Headed For Bankruptcy

Fox News Channel ^ | April 15, 2003 | N/A

[Illbay]

Could be a long summer for airline travel!

[Not A Snowbird]

"and since Airbus = France, then I won't be flying with JetBlue."

Bingo!

[kcvl]

Continental reports $221M first quarter loss...

[bneal]

You really have to try harder. Think before typing.

[Grampa Dave]

Thank you. I wondered why their stock went only less than a half of a % on this news.

[rivercat]

I fly alot (50K-75K miles/year). Reserved seating is extremely important. Legroom is really important, too (I'm 6'3"). I don't like to have to arrive extra early to be in the first boarding group. I also get free upgrades to Business/First Class. Southwest doesn't have that. As for fares, most of the time my fares on American are about the same as Southwest and I don't have to stop at 3-4 different airports to get where I'm going.

[Digger]

This has been a good read from all who participated. My simple thought is that it would become inevitable that the airlines would suffer at some time because they just got so big which leads to inefficiency & corruption. and our nation is about to see this same difficulty hit it.

[Maigrey]

I would... I've got a friend from college playing in it. But I don't fret. She makes great money 8 months out of the year as a financial advisor. She plays ball for the fun (and supplimental income) of it.

[Dog Gone]

It's not over yet!

AMR to Pay Millions Due to Vote Extension
Tuesday April 15, 5:06 pm ET

DALLAS (Reuters) - American Airlines said on Tuesday it would file for bankruptcy if its flight attendant rejected a concession deal, adding it will be forced to make millions of dollars in debt payments because it extended a deadline on the vote.

American, a division of AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR - News). had asked all three of its major unions to ratify concession deals aimed at saving the world's largest carrier $1.8 billion in annual labor costs by Tuesday. It extended the voting until Wednesday for flight attendants, the only group that rejected the deals.

"In order to be able to extend the deadline, the company announced that it will immediately make millions of dollars in scheduled debt payments due today as part of its ongoing commitment to preserve jobs and avoid bankruptcy," it said in a statement.

"With almost 10,000 jobs hanging in the balance, and the future of 100,000 employees at stake, we agreed to take this risk and make this investment for our employees because we believe that all employees will be better off if we can save jobs and restructure our costs consensually rather than through the bankruptcy process," AMR Chairman Don Carty said.

[Grampa Dave]

As the maker of the France Products to avoid or to boycott, Airbus is one of the first on the list.

So thank you Sandy and dcam.

[TommyDale]

I have flown in excess of a million miles on American Airlines. They could probably get by without any flight attendants, since their service in the air has become nonexistent. They could learn a few things from the non-union Southwest. AirTran has become my airline of choice, simply because they can continue to smile and take care of passengers in a nice, friendly way. Even when things aren't going well, they are still courteous to the passengers, which is something the major airlines can't do any longer.

[Not A Snowbird]

You're welcome! I hope the gamble works out for them, but I guess time will tell. We're seeing survival of the fittest now.

[Nachoman]

The AMR board of directors just announced they are outsourcing operations to Air India.

[ChadGore]

(mutter) unions (mutter)

[LibertyGirl77]

"and since Airbus = France, then I won't be flying with JetBlue."

Oh, for chrissake. (eyeroll)

Sorry, I just can't take much more of the "boycott all French products" mentality. The French economy does not live or die based on whether you fly on an Airbus. JetBlue already bought the damn airplanes. All you're paying for when you fly JetBlue is American salaries, a ride to wherever you're going, a snack, and a 2-to-4-hour DirectTV subscription. What do you do when you book with another airline and find out you'll be riding an Airbus when you arrive at the gate? Postpone your plans and wait for a Boeing? Some of us don't have that much time or energy on our hands. Sorry if that makes us bad Americans.

[sinkspur]

The bottom line is the CEOs of AMR and UAL committed manslaughter and allowed to walk. If you or I ran a small company and our product enabled the murder of customers due to obvious negligence we would be in jail.

Oh, there are still greedy 9/11 families out there with their claws out for AMR and UAL. The government, rightly, excluded them from any government cash, however.

So, they're taking their chances on getting anything at all.

I like your kind of people: drive a company under for the sake of a silly lawsuit!

[nycgal]

In other news, Southwest and Sky Blue triple in size overnight

I think you meant Jet Blue.

[rivercat]

I always book my flights online with American or Alaska, and I always check the aircraft type (I know AA has a few Airbus aircraft from a takeover). Screw France.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

"You're stupid. Do you know him? I do, and he agonizes over the position his airline is in. Did you hate Bob Crandall (who built American into the giant it is) too? Or do you just hate management generally?"

Sinkspur, personal attacks are not allowed at FR. "Stupid" and "hate" are not allowed in my house, but I suppose they are in yours.

My anger comes from Mr. Carty springing this TA on the unions (people - fathers, mothers, etc...)...when he did it, and how he did it. If he saw AA sliding into the bankruptcy door, why didn't he allow for enough time to handle this like a professional?

Instead, it was rushed to the table, and hours later, there was a TA, and the Union leadership was peeing down their legs, they were so fearful. The TA was not even finalized...wording kept changing as Mr. Carty tried to get the paperwork done...yet...the voting had to continue.

And what kills me...keeping the company afloat is management's job...NOT the job of the attendants, agents nor the pilots. Mr. Carty and his team FAILED!!! AND Mr. Carty is spinning to the media that if the TA is not ratified, it will be the workers' fault!!!

IMO, Mr. Carty was greedy in a Clintonesque style. He gleefully continued growing his company with acquisitions. He threw the dirty work to the unions to sort out...like a side of beef to the dogs.

Sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree.

[Dog Gone]

Associated Press
American Flight Attendants Extend Voting
Tuesday April 15, 5:03 pm ET
By Angela K. Brown, Associated Press WriterAmerican Airlines Flight Attendants Given One More Day to Vote on Labor Concessions

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines flight attendants were given one more day to vote on whether to accept labor concessions the airline says it needs to avoid bankruptcy, a labor leader said.

The reprieve came after a union official said the flight attendants were on the verge of narrowly rejecting $340 million in wage cuts and other concessions.

The flight attendants' vote was hanging in the balance after unions representing pilots and ground workers said Tuesday that they had approved their portion of the proposed $1.8 billion cuts.

The flight attendants union had complained Monday that some members were having trouble casting votes by phone and the Internet and sought an extension.

With 19,000 votes cast, flight attendants rejected the concessions by fewer than 500 votes, the union said.

American said in a statement late Tuesday that the flight attendants would be allowed to continue voting -- and be allowed to change their vote -- until 6 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

"This is our last chance to avoid bankruptcy," Don Carty, chairman of American parent AMR Corp., said.

Carty said if the flight attendants do not ratify the concessions by the new deadline, the airline will file for bankruptcy immediately.

Leaders of American's three main unions had reluctantly supported the concessions as a better alternative than bankruptcy. They feared that American would use the bankruptcy process to impose even harsher cuts and reduced pension benefits.

"To willingly take our airline and our company into bankruptcy would not be a better alternative," John Darrah, president of the pilots' union, said while announcing the results of the pilots' voting. "There is no upside to bankruptcy."

Underscoring American's financial troubles, auditors for its parent company expressed doubt Tuesday about the company's ability to stay in business, citing large losses and the need to cut labor costs.

But angry employees packed union meetings to complain that terms of the concession deals were too harsh. They objected to the length of the deals -- nearly six years -- and small raises in later years.

American sweetened the deals last week by offering one-time bonuses of up to 4.5 percent in 2006 or later if the company's credit ratings improve sharply.

In late afternoon, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in the stock of American's parent, AMR Corp. In earlier trading, the stock was among the most active on the NYSE, with nearly 48 million shares changing hands. The stock was up 47 cents at $3.55 a share.

[honway]

.........They could learn a few things from the non-union Southwest........



Southwest Flight Attendants To Picket
March 12 (AP) — Southwest Airlines flight attendants will be picketing at Oakland International Airport and in Baltimore and Chicago today to protest a management demand for a longer work day.
Local Headlines



Thom McDaniel is president of Local 556 of the Transport Workers Union of America. He says Southwest wants to extend the workday to 13 hours.

The union represents Southwest's 7,500 flight attendants, who currently can be scheduled to work up to ten and a half hours.