American flights attendants approve new contract terms

By Barry Shlachter

barry@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- American Airlines flight attendants have soundly approved the carrier's final contract offer, with 59.5 percent voting in favor, a deal that will provide raises for members and buyout incentives to help trim jobs.

The ratification, announced after voting ended Sunday, leaves the airline's pilots as the only union to have rejected a cost-cutting deal and risk having the Bankruptcy Court throw out its contract. Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane rejected the company's request to terminate the contract, citing two areas where the company had overreached. On Friday, American renewed its request after adjusting those provisions.

Even while announcing the positive vote, however, leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants kept a bitter tone toward the airline management and stressed that the union continues to support a merger with US Airways.

"We will now continue our strong and concise message that we have zero confidence in this management team," President Laura Glading and other union leaders said in a statement. "We firmly believe that the only way for American Airlines to grow and compete and perhaps even to survive is through a merger that puts [US Airways CEO] Doug Parker and his team in charge."

Fort Worth-based American saw the vote as a victory.

"Ratification of the flight attendant agreement is an important step forward in our restructuring," airline spokesman Bruce Hicks said. "We know this was not an easy decision for our flight attendants and we are very pleased with the choice they made."

The agreement includes an "early out" incentive that could eliminate the need for more than 2,000 furloughs, Hicks said by e-mail. Attendants with at least 15 years of seniority would receive a $40,000 severance payment.

Other contract provisions include a $1,500 payment on the date of signing, raises over the next five years, including 3 percent the first year, and an equity stake in the new American. The union said about 93 percent of 13,544 flight attendants who were eligible voted.

"Our flight attendants join our seven [Transport Workers Union]-represented employee groups with ratified agreements providing another step forward for our people and the company," Hicks said.

James Little, president of TWU, said the flight attendants knew they could not rely on the Bankruptcy Court for a fair deal.

"The bankruptcy laws of this country were set up to protect corporate assets and not people," he said. "Placing their futures into the hands of the Bankruptcy Court would have been a costly mistake for flight attendants."

Little said his union will continue to work with the airline's other groups to explore reorganization options, including a merger.

Earlier this year, American's three major unions reached tentative agreements with US Airways on contract terms less severe than American proposed and said they would support a merger bid with the Arizona-based carrier. Afterward, American re-entered contract talks with its unions and scaled back some cost-cutting demands. Those talks led to the recent deals. American's parent company, AMR Corp., filed for bankruptcy in November after American and its unions could not reach contract agreements for five years.

AMR CEO Tom Horton has been warming up to the idea of a merger and recently said he would make a decision on the direction of the airline in a matter of weeks. He had said earlier that he would not consider a merger until after the company has restructured in Bankruptcy Court but more recently began exploring merger options and sent nondisclosure agreements to potential partners.

Beyond its unionized work force, Hicks said, the carrier is moving forward with changes covering other employees.

Barry Shlachter, 817-390-7718

Twitter: @bshlachter

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