The Bedwetting has Begun!

RV4

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
1,885
80
www.usaviation.com
Union, American Airline talks making headway
Associated Press
DALLAS -- Officials at American Airlines, battered by persistent rumors of impending bankruptcy, were cheered this week by signs that once-reluctant unions are seriously negotiating over large wage and benefit concessions.
Analysts say American, which is losing about $5 million a day, cannot avoid bankruptcy without help from its unions in sharply cutting costs.
American laid out a proposal to mechanics and other ground workers to cut their pay 16 percent. The 6-year deal would save the company $625 million a year and includes a cheaper managed-care health plan, eliminating pay for one week of vacation, and cutting annual paid holidays from 10 days to five days.
Leaders of the Transport Workers Union were meeting with consultants Wednesday to review the proposal and did not respond to calls for comment. In a Web site posting, they promised to help American avoid bankruptcy.

American hopes to win $1.8 billion in annual cost savings from workers, nearly half the airline''s goal of cutting annual costs by $4 billion.
Company officials promised the ground workers that they would share in the profits if labor concessions led to a turnaround. An airline spokesman said terms and timing of such sharing would be determined in negotiations.
American is already negotiating for $660 million in savings from pilots. On Tuesday, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants authorized negotiations on the company''s proposal for $340 million in concessions.
We''re certainly very pleased ... by the sense of urgency and willingness to negotiate, Bruce Hicks, a spokesman for American, said of the flight attendants'' resolution. It was noteworthy there were no caveats. It was a commitment to get things done.
No date has been set for the beginning of negotiations, said a spokesman for the flight attendants union. American wants $660 million in savings from pilots and $340 million from flight attendants, with smaller amounts from nonunion employees and management.
Philip Baggaley, an analyst with Standard & Poor''s, said American and its unions still have some time, months perhaps, to reach agreement -- but much less time if war in the Middle East causes a drop in travel and higher fuel prices.
The unions have also joined American in lobbying Congress for relief from higher taxes, security and fuel costs. On Wednesday, representatives from five unions marched at several airports and on Capitol Hill to support breaks for the airline industry.
Government help, however, might be too late for American. Nothing the government does would materially change the likelihood of American filing for bankruptcy, Baggaley said.
Bankruptcy experts say the unions have strong reason to help the airline avoid a Chapter 11 filing, which could lead to permission to break contracts and reduce pension and other benefits that employees won in past contracts.
Bankruptcy makes losers out of pilots especially; they have such wonderful pensions, said William Rochelle, an airline bankruptcy lawyer in New York with Fulbright & Jaworski.
Gregg Overman, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, said American pilots were well aware of what could happen to pilot pensions under bankruptcy.

Obviously we want to avoid that kind of predicament, he said. We want to get as much done outside the bankruptcy process as we can.
The apparent closer cooperation between the company and its unions comes during a week in which the stock of American''s parent company, AMR Corp., has been hammered by reports of a possible bankruptcy filing.
Investors, knowing that American''s unions have been given unusual access to the company''s financial records, took note when the president of the flight attendants'' union warned Monday that the carrier might file for bankruptcy sooner rather than later.
That was followed by reports that American is trying to line up $2 billion in bankruptcy financing. The company has declined to comment.
American''s financial problems have prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to keep a closer eye on the airline and possibly increase inspections, spokeswoman Alison Duquette said. The FAA took similar steps with United Airlines and US Airways, both of which filed for bankruptcy protection.
Standard & Poor''s announced it would remove AMR from its index of 500 large U.S. companies Thursday because of the company''s plunging stock price and market capitalization. American Airlines has been part of the index since 1938. Large investments buy big stakes of companies listed in the S&P 500.
American''s financial problems have left it scrambling to refinance about $800 million in debt that comes due in June. A credit crunch could be the impetus for a bankruptcy filing.
If an airline''s cash is running down to where it needs an additional line of credit, the lenders may be reluctant to do it without bankruptcy protection, said Rochelle, the bankruptcy attorney.
In trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, AMR shares fell 18 cents, or 11 percent, to $1.41, another 52-week low. The shares have dropped more than 90 percent in the past year and by half in just the past three trading days.
 
$625,000,000.00 X 6 Years = 3 Billion 750 Million or $3,750,000,000.00

How much are you willing to sacrifice to subsidize the Pilot's Exuberant Pensions?

Just how much does a Pilot receive in pension anyway?

Give us both options, monthly payment option and lump sum option?
 
[blockquote]
----------------
On 3/14/2003 6:47:33 PM KCFlyer wrote:

Hey, this looks just like the USAirways board.

RV4 - do yourself a favor - quit AA and go to work fixing cars, or if you love aviation, head over to your local FBO and get a job fixing King Airs.
----------------
[/blockquote]


Do yourself a favor and answer the question on topic instead appearing like a child on playground.

I still do not understand your stake and sacrifice in our current crisis?
 
Hey, this looks just like the USAirways board.

RV4 - do yourself a favor - quit AA and go to work fixing cars, or if you love aviation, head over to your local FBO and get a job fixing King Airs.