American Airlines parent wants union contracts dropped

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0328-amr-contracts-20120328,0,3993106.story

AMR says cutback talks too slow, asks bankruptcy court to void labor contracts

By Gregory Karp, Chicago Tribune reporter

March 28, 2012
The American Airlines bankruptcy reached a milestone Tuesday when the airline's parent company asked a bankruptcy court to ditch its labor contracts.

The move could accelerate ongoing negotiations with unions regarding voluntary job cuts the struggling airline says it needs. The action also paves the way for potentially turning the matter over to the bankruptcy court, which would determine job cuts.

In a letter to employees Tuesday, CEO Tom Horton said negotiations with unions were progressing too slowly. "With losses mounting and oil prices rising, there is growing urgency to move more quickly," he said in the letter. "The bankruptcy law provides a process for the court to address such a situation as has been done in virtually all prior successful airline restructurings."

AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines and regional carrier American Eagle, has been negotiating with its unions for pilots, flight attendants and other workers on consensual cutbacks, en route to some 13,000 job cuts and $1.25 billion in cost reductions. The airline company, which has about 9,900 employees in Chicago, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 29.

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