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American goes ahead with layoffs of 3,100 flight attendants By DAVID KOENIG Associated Press
July 1, 2003
DALLAS - American Airlines began laying off more than 3,100 flight attendants on Tuesday, after a federal judge turned aside a union official's bid to block the job losses.
More than half the workers losing their jobs this week had worked for Trans World Airlines before American's parent company bought TWA out of bankruptcy in 2001.
In St. Louis, the longtime home of TWA, and other bases around the country, flight attendants finishing their last day of work turned in uniforms, identification badges and keys.
"There will be a lot of people checking out today. Of course it's a difficult day, but we understand these furloughs are needed to keep American Airlines on the path back to profitability," said Julia Bishop Cross, an American spokeswoman in St. Louis.
In e-mails, workers facing unemployment say they fear losing their homes and wonder how to pay for health care. A few say they could face bankruptcy. Others will get by but miss the job.
Maura Sanders of Arlington finally became a flight attendant three years ago, at age 44, realizing a dream since high school.
"It was so long to get here, it hurts. It's hard to let a dream die," Sanders said. She hopes to catch on at a commuter airline but figures to be OK until then on her husband's earnings as a day trader.
Chris Bailey was also nearing his third anniversary on the job. His last flight was Sunday, from Vancouver, B.C., back home to Dallas.
"The way home was kind of somber. I kind of feel let down by the company, but seniority matters," said Bailey, 23, who plans to collect unemployment while job-hunting - and waiting to be recalled if travel picks up.
Separately, American, the world's largest carrier, said Tuesday it was nearing decisions on cutting more flights and closing some facilities. The airline has already cut 57 planes since last year and plans to idle 57 more by summer 2004.
"We will not be able to fly every nonstop route we fly today, nor will we be able to provide the same level of service in markets that cannot profitably support our current flight schedule," said chief executive Gerard Arpey.
American is expected to close one or more of its maintenance facilities in Fort Worth, Tulsa, Okla., and Kansas City, Mo. The company is also reviewing volume of calls handled at its eight U.S. reservations centers.
The airline is dealing with a long and continuing slump in air travel that began with the 2001 recession. American said Tuesday that miles flown by paying passengers in June fell 3.2 percent from the weak results of June 2002.
The 3,123 layoffs, which were to be completed shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, were sealed in May when American and its employees agreed to $1.8 billion in annual labor cost reductions to keep the company out of bankruptcy.
The concessions, including pay cuts of 15 percent to 23 percent, were approved in contentious voting by unions representing flight attendants, pilots and ground workers.
American said service would not affected by the layoffs. About 900 flight attendants were being transferred to St. Louis beginning Wednesday morning to replace the laid-off TWA workers.
Former TWA employees bore the brunt of the layoffs - 1,780 lost their jobs - because they lost in a power struggle between two union groups after American's parent, AMR Corp., bought TWA.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, representing American's workers, placed former TWA attendants at the bottom of the seniority list, making them the first to be hit by layoffs no matter how long they had worked for TWA.
The former TWA flight attendants, led by a union board member from St. Louis, went to federal court in New York to block the layoffs, but Judge Carol Bagley Amon on Monday rejected their request for an injunction. The ex-TWA workers are still pursuing a lawsuit against American and the president of the flight attendants' union charging, in part that employee voting on the labor concessions was tainted.
AMR's acquisition of TWA in April 2001 was meant to keep pace with United Airlines, then the industry leader, which was trying to acquire US Airways. The TWA deal backfired when air travel declined - especially after the September 2001 terror attacks - and left American with too many empty seats on their planes.
Since then, American, United and other U.S. carriers have grounded dozens of jets and cut more than 100,000 jobs to save money. Fort Worth-based AMR, which has lost more than $6 billion since the beginning of 2001, has cut 6,000 flight attendant jobs since October 2001.
Most of those laid off this week will get final paychecks by July 15. A job fair is planned next week for flight attendants who were based at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Similar events have been held in St. Louis. "They've been very well attended," said Bishop Cross, the airline spokeswoman.
The union said once the layoffs are carried out, American will have cut 6,000 flight attendant jobs since October 2001.
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