FORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines plans to ask its pilots for approval to add flights to the Asian Pacific Rim, long a weak region in the carrier's network, officials say.
Tokyo is the only Asian city that American serves directly. It carries passengers to many Asian cities through partnerships with other carriers, such as Japan Airlines and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airlines.
"International growth is really going to be important for American," an airline spokesman, Roger Frizzell, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"We've had success in Europe, a great deal of success in Latin America, and we think China could be an opportunity as we move into 2004-2005," he said.
Flights from the mainland United States to Asia can last longer than 16 hours. Because of that duration, the carrier must negotiate work rules such as crew size with its unions before beginning new service.
American, the world's largest carrier, and the Allied Pilots Association had discussed such flights in the past, but talks were sidetracked after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and American's unraveling financial situation, which nearly pushed the carrier into bankruptcy early last year.
The outbreak of a severe respiratory illness in Asia also caused a steep decline in travel between the Far East and the United States.
Airline officials said American has approval from the flight attendants' union covering the long-haul flights to Asia and recently approached pilots about getting a similar agreement.
Gregg Overman, a union spokesman, said the issue will be discussed at a special board meeting next week.
"Clearly this is something we would like to see the airline do," Overman said. "There are simply some issues we need to work through ... nothing that we see as insurmountable."
Overman said the union hoped the additional flights would mean a few more jobs but not a dramatic increase. The company has laid off thousands of workers since 2001.
"There finally are some growth opportunities, and this would be a good one," Overman said.
Among the earliest routes American would like to fly is Chicago to Hong Kong, Frizzell said, adding that service could begin in 2005. The U.S. Department of Transportation has already given American approval for the route.
In 1999, American proposed flying from Chicago to Beijing and Shanghai but was denied the traffic rights. In early 2001, it started service from San Jose, Calif., to Taipei, Taiwan, but American dropped the route after the terror attacks took a toll on air travel.
In early 2002, the Fort Worth-based carrier canceled flights from Dallas to Osaka, Japan, and from Seattle to Tokyo.
The plans for expanding Asian service at American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., were first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In trading Tuesday, AMR shares fell 8 cents to $13.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Tokyo is the only Asian city that American serves directly. It carries passengers to many Asian cities through partnerships with other carriers, such as Japan Airlines and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airlines.
"International growth is really going to be important for American," an airline spokesman, Roger Frizzell, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"We've had success in Europe, a great deal of success in Latin America, and we think China could be an opportunity as we move into 2004-2005," he said.
Flights from the mainland United States to Asia can last longer than 16 hours. Because of that duration, the carrier must negotiate work rules such as crew size with its unions before beginning new service.
American, the world's largest carrier, and the Allied Pilots Association had discussed such flights in the past, but talks were sidetracked after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and American's unraveling financial situation, which nearly pushed the carrier into bankruptcy early last year.
The outbreak of a severe respiratory illness in Asia also caused a steep decline in travel between the Far East and the United States.
Airline officials said American has approval from the flight attendants' union covering the long-haul flights to Asia and recently approached pilots about getting a similar agreement.
Gregg Overman, a union spokesman, said the issue will be discussed at a special board meeting next week.
"Clearly this is something we would like to see the airline do," Overman said. "There are simply some issues we need to work through ... nothing that we see as insurmountable."
Overman said the union hoped the additional flights would mean a few more jobs but not a dramatic increase. The company has laid off thousands of workers since 2001.
"There finally are some growth opportunities, and this would be a good one," Overman said.
Among the earliest routes American would like to fly is Chicago to Hong Kong, Frizzell said, adding that service could begin in 2005. The U.S. Department of Transportation has already given American approval for the route.
In 1999, American proposed flying from Chicago to Beijing and Shanghai but was denied the traffic rights. In early 2001, it started service from San Jose, Calif., to Taipei, Taiwan, but American dropped the route after the terror attacks took a toll on air travel.
In early 2002, the Fort Worth-based carrier canceled flights from Dallas to Osaka, Japan, and from Seattle to Tokyo.
The plans for expanding Asian service at American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., were first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
In trading Tuesday, AMR shares fell 8 cents to $13.17 on the New York Stock Exchange.
