Aa To Furlough Fewer St. Louis Mechanics

WingNaPrayer

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Aug 20, 2002
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ST. LOUIS (Dow Jones)--American Airlines is giving pink slips to fewer mechanics here than it had originally planned in order to speed up conversion work on former Trans World Airlines aircraft.

American announced Wednesday that a portion of the St. Louis mechanics who were slated to be furloughed as part of the airline's downsizing in St. Louis will instead be converting former TWA MD-80s to American's specifications. That work needs to be accelerated, the airline said in a press release.

AMR Corp.'s (AMR) American had planned to lay off around 350 mechanics, but instead that number is now about 160, American spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross told Dow Jones Newswires. The decision to reduce the number was made about a week-and-a-half ago, she said.

American has 530 mechanics in St. Louis. Once the 160 employees are laid off, there will be 370 mechanics remaining.

American will open two Super MD-80 conversion work lines next spring in St. Louis, the company said. Each plane takes three weeks to convert to American's specifications, including standardizing the flight deck and refurbishing the cabin.

The review of American's maintenance capacity requirements is almost finished, and the airline said it expects to soon make decisions about how to allocate work among three facilities. Those maintenance facilities are in Kansas City, Tulsa, Okla., and Fort Worth, Texas.
 
While this is sorta good news, what happens to the 190 mechanics who aren't being furloughed when the MD-80 conversions are complete? They will be surplus then, right?