FORT WORTH -- If it takes American Airlines a little longer to restructure in bankruptcy, that's fine with the president of the flight attendants union.
"As long as there is discussion about strategic alternatives, it's good news to me," Laura Glading said about the company asking the Bankruptcy Court for more time to submit a restructuring plan. "I really think these things take time and they can't be rushed, and if we need more time to look at those alternatives, then so be it."As the board of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants meets in Fort Worth this week, Glading spoke with the Star-Telegram. Here are excerpts from the interview:Last week, CEO Tom Horton expressed confidence in the carrier's performance and ability to restructure in bankruptcy. You support a merger with US Airways while in bankruptcy. Do you think American can emerge from bankruptcy as a stand-alone carrier?I guess I'm always kind of baffled about his optimism on the stand-alone. I don't understand that. I think that there's overwhelming support now for the merger and although he says he's engaging and he's looking at strategic alternatives, I hope that he's not being disingenuous about it.As far as you know, are merger talks still occurring?According to [their nondisclosure agreement], yes, talks are to be continuing. ... US Air is, you know, even mentioned in the [restructuring extension] filing as one of the reasons.How did your members respond to the flight delays and cancellations that occurred in the past few weeks? American had accused the pilots of intentionally slowing down operations, although the union denied it.The flight attendants were incredibly quiet and I don't think there was any ... finger-pointing. Look, we're faced with weather delays, grounding of different aircraft. ... They just put one foot in front of the other and would take the delay just like they would take any other delay if there was one. I think the flight attendants handled this very well.Your union board is meeting this week. What are you focused on now that you have a new contract with American?We're just doing updates, right now concentrating on the implementation of our last best final offer because there are many, many changes. We're talking about the scheduling of the people who are leaving under the voluntary early-out programs.Andrea Ahles, 817-390-7631Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
