Tension rises as American Airlines has to cancel more flights

By Bob Cox

rcox@star-telegram.com

American Airlines canceled 83 flights systemwide Thursday, 10 percent of them unplanned, as the Fort Worth-based airline struggled to keep planes flying on time and publicly argued with its pilots union about the source of the problems.

Reports of maintenance problems by pilots, which shot up late last week and have remained high, continue to handicap operations, spokesman Bruce Hicks said, even after the airline canceled 300 flights from Wednesday through Sunday.

"The maintenance write-ups are higher than they've ever been," Hicks said.

He said the trend started last week after American began imposing new work rules and contract terms on its pilots.

Until then, Hicks said, American's on-time performance and reliability measures were at their highest levels in years.

In a statement issued early Thursday, the union representing American's pilots said, "There is no job action of any sort that is organized, supported or sanctioned by the Allied Pilots Association."

Why then, Hicks said, are so many pilots filing maintenance notices "right at the scheduled departure time or even after the [cabin] door has been closed"?

Each write-up receives the same priority attention, Hicks said.

"We're going to ensure the safety of our operations," he said.

Allied Pilots Association spokesman Tom Hoban said there's no doubt that the pilots are observing the fine points of all airline rules and federal regulations, reporting nonserious issues they might have once ignored.

"Without the [APA] contract, there is no safety net out there," Hoban said.

"[American] management would love to terminate some people. If that means you dot all your i's and cross all your t's, that's an environment this management has created."

Contrary to some reports, Hicks said, American is not blaming the flight cancellations and flight performance on increased numbers of pilots calling in sick.

"It is a factor," Hicks said, adding that sick calls were up 20 percent from the same period a year ago. "The primary driver is the maintenance write-ups."

The union statement said that "pilot sick rates have not deviated from normal historical rates" and that "crew cancellations remain at normal rates."

But a chart on the union's website shows that 177 more pilots were sick on Tuesday than on the same date a year ago.

The number of sick pilots and the percentage of assigned pilots calling in sick fluctuate from month to month but are significantly higher than normal, according to the union's own chart.

Hoban said the pilots' anger at management "is white hot."

"With the termination of the contract, they've declared war on the pilots," Hoban said. "They've devalued the profession."

American's on-time performance plummeted as a result of the turmoil, falling to just 54 percent Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.

Almost 800 flights failed to arrive on time, including 291 that were late by more than 44 minutes, according to FlightStats.com, an industry data tracker.

The results fall short of American's 74 percent on-time rate in August, according to FlightStats, and the 83 percent industrywide average this year through July, as tracked by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics. It defines on-time arrivals as being within 15 minutes of schedule.

"There have been substantial disruptions," Hicks said.

"The numbers speak for themselves."

Former American Chief Executive Robert Crandall told The Associated Press that the airline is going to lose passengers, its paying customers, because of the cancellations and delays.

"You can be sure it is happening already," said Crandall, who ran American for 13 years when the airline was known for innovations such as its frequent flier program and for strikes by union employees.

"Every time the pilots pulled a job action, the public books away.

"It is perfectly obvious that this is a job action by the pilots," Crandall said.

"I think it's childish, it's self-defeating and it's harmful to the company and to other employees."

Hoban said the pilots' anger and distrust of management can be resolved only if the company "negotiates in good faith" and offers contract terms similar to those given to Delta and United pilots after those airlines emerged from bankruptcy.

This report includes material from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

Bob Cox, 817-390-7723

Twitter: @bobcoxict

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