American will recall 390 furloughed flight attendants; first recalls since Sept. 11 attacks

<br>DALLAS (AP) _ American Airlines Inc. is calling back to work 390 flight attendants who were furloughed in cost-cutting moves to avoid bankruptcy, the first such recall at the world's largest air

Friday, October 10th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ American Airlines Inc. is calling back to work 390 flight attendants who were furloughed in cost-cutting moves to avoid bankruptcy, the first such recall at the world's largest air carrier since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Fort Worth-based American, which signed a letter of agreement with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said it will increase its flying schedule in coming months and into the spring.

``Although the future continues to be somewhat uncertain, this recall certainly represents a bit of good news when that's in short supply these days,'' John Ward, APFA president, said Thursday.

The airline furloughed more than 6,000 flight attendants on July 1. Another 1,385 flight attendants are on leaves of absence, but American officials said that the recalls will not come from that group.

Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., American's parent company, had been losing money steadily for about two years and was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy before winning employee approval for $1.8 billion in annual labor concessions.