Transport Workers Union Local Reacts To AMR Bankruptcy News

The Transport Workers Union local reacts to Tuesday's announcement that American Airlines and its parent company AMR Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

TWU International President James Little says they are disappointed with the decision by AMR and feel bankruptcy could have been avoided.

Little says the union will "fight like hell to make sure that front line workers don't pay an unfair price for management's failings."

TWU Local 514 President Sam Cirri says Tuesday's news means everyone in the Tulsa area should be concerned at American's maintenance base.

"If something should happen to the Tulsa base, what happens to the community here. So it should be a major concern with everybody.  And we have to strive to keep this in place, keep the maintenance going and keep this community going," said Sam Cirri. 

David Wilhelm has been through this before.

"I'm not going to spend any money for a while I'll tell you that. Because you don't know what's coming," Wilhelm said.

He worked for United for 12 years when that airline filed for bankruptcy. Wilhelm says he was supposed to get about $400 a month but that was chopped to $168.

"United took me to the cleaners, and now we're looking at American doing the same thing," he said.

He says the pay, benefits, and job security of all their members will likely be a major target of the bankruptcy process. That's Wilhelm's biggest fear.

"That everybody who put all the years into them is not going to get compensated for what they were promised all their lives," Wilhelm said.

AMR Corp. has continued to lose money while other U.S. airlines returned to profitability in the last two years. Thomas W. Horton, AMR CEO said the board of directors unanimously decided to file for bankruptcy after meeting Monday in New York and again by conference call on Monday night.

American said it would operate normally while it reorganizes in bankruptcy. The airline said it would continue to operate flights, honor tickets and take reservations.

James Little, TWU International President issued the following statement:

We are very disappointed by today's action by AMR. The Transport Workers Union will do everything possible to protect our members at both American Airlines and American Eagle. Work at both airlines will continue through the Chapter 11 reorganization.

Our union had tried to work with AMR managers to make the company more cost competitive and more efficient. In the past month we had reached tentative agreements for both flight dispatchers and fleet service workers. Fleet service is American's largest bargaining unit. Other TWU units at both American and Eagle had previously inked agreements. Our aircraft mechanics and maintenance workers, represented by TWU, have saved the company several hundred million dollars over the past decade through boosted productivity and by bringing in work from other airlines.

While we think this bankruptcy could have and should have been avoided, it does not come as a surprise. TWU engaged special bankruptcy counsel two years ago as a contingency and our attorney Sharon Levine of the firm Lowenstein Sander PC will file claims on behalf of TWU members later today in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

This is likely to be a long and ugly process and our union will fight like hell to make sure that front line workers don't pay an unfair price for management's failings.

We also will do everything possible to protect our passengers. American Airlines does more maintenance in-house and in the USA than any other major US-based airline. Other bankruptcies in the airline industry have seen aircraft overhaul and other repair work sent to less secure, poorly regulated maintenance facilities in third world countries. We will do everything in our power to maintain quality and safety for this airline and its passengers, while protecting the interests of our members.