American inches near deal with unions

See previous stories about American Airlines and its Tulsa operations. After four years of contract negotiations with its unionized mechanics, pilots and flight attendants, American Airlines may be close to tentative contract agreements with some of its work groups, negotiators say. The process has received a boost, however, not from either side's willingness to agree to or concede positions but from a confluence of events outside negotiations that has given them some urgency. During the last week, American said it is closing its San Francisco pilot crew base because an increase in pilot retirements has left the airline short of crew.

"The recent surge in retirements has left our manning levels to be critically short to the detriment of our schedule reliability," John Hale, vice president for flight at Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., American's parent, said in an email to pilots. The pilot retirements - 240 pilots left in September and October - among members of American's Allied Pilots Association and the company's announcement it is cutting fourth quarter seating capacity by 3 percent leaves the nation's third largest airline in a staffing bind, officials said. APA representatives said the union won't agree to work rule changes that would help American through the pilot shortage without a new contract. And that has shifted contract negotiations into a higher gear, company and union officials said. "We are committed to intense negotiations and we are trying to get a contract," said APA spokesman Greg Overman. "We are scheduled to meet (in contract negotiations) through the weekend. It's fair to say that both sides are serious and anxious to get to it." The company's focus on the pilots has pushed negotiations with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union to the back burner, union officials said. "In early June, we gave our (proposed contract) presentation and their team gave us a counter presentation, but there was no negotiations," said Anne Loew, chief negotiator for the APFA. "They focused on the pilots and our teams haven't met since June." A spokesman for the TWU said negotiations with American are on hold. "We want to see what the pilots are doing," said the TWU spokesman, who didn't want to be quoted. "It doesn't pay for us to come up with a deal until we see what happens with the pilots." John Hewitt, maintenance chief for TWU Local 514 in Tulsa, said management and the union have reached tentative agreements on several articles. "The few articles still being discussed center around scope of work, pay, benefits and duration of the agreement," Hewitt said. In August 2010, TWU members rejected a tentative contract agreement that would have provided a 6 percent lump sum signing bonus and a 6 percent wage increase over three years. TWU members who opposed the tentative agreement said it eliminated a medical pre-funding benefit for retirees, would have required 24/7 weekend scheduling at the overhaul bases and opened up a new, lower-paid mechanic title. "So far, the company has not offered an increase in pay or benefits over what was rejected in the tentative agreement over a year ago," Hewitt said. "As a matter of fact, they have moved even further away from us in some areas. "Since there has been no significant change from what was previously offered, our membership already gave their response to this by rejecting the TA (tentative agreement)." Hovering over the negotiations with all three work groups are memories of the wage and benefit concessions agreed to by the mechanics, pilots and flight attendants in 2003. The three unions agreed to $1.62 billion a year in wage and benefit concessions to keep American from a bankruptcy filing. Despite the concessions, American executives still say the company has a $600 million to $800 million labor cost disadvantage compared with its competitors, most of whom filed for bankruptcy. The unions scoff at the company's use of the figure. "They (American) have never been able to show us this gap," APFA's Loew said. The TWU's Hewitt said American's mechanics are paid $10 per hour less than the top paid mechanics in the industry and rank seventh in pay among the major airlines. APA's Overman said there is a gap between proposals by the union and the company on pay and benefits, which are among the unresolved contract issues in negotiations with all three unions. "We're trying to close that gap," Overman said. "Our efforts are to restore our purchasing power in 2003. The pilots gave up concessions and did so on an industry-trailing contract. Our pilots are looking to us to try and recoup." Loew said the company has proposed wage increases that would not match proposed increases in medical premiums. "What the company has on the table would put us behind where we are today," Loew said. D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451 [email protected] SUBHEAD: Negotiations are advancing, some think because of outside forces.