American pilots union seeks vote on agreement

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The Allied Pilots Association board of directors voted 12-4 to send a tentative agreement between American Airlines and the union out to pilots for a ratification vote.

“The agreement-inprinciple is now a tentative agreement and will be subject to a membership ratification vote,” said Allied Pilots Association, or APA, spokesman Gregg Overman.

American spokesman Bruce Hicks said the carrier is pleased that the union is putting the agreement out for a vote.

“We worked hard in concert with the APA’s negotiating committee to structure an agreement that addresses the priorities identified by APA as most important to our pilots, while staying within the same cost savings target that we required from all other employee groups,” Hicks said. “We are confident our pilots will carefully consider the terms of the agreement as they cast their votes over the next few weeks.”

The tentative agreement, which if approved would last for six years, includes pay raises, profit-sharing and a 13.5 percent equity stake in the company once it emerges from bankruptcy. The two sides have been negotiating over issues of pay and work rules for the past several weeks.

The pilots are the only union at American that has not agreed to a new costcutting contract. Mechanics, flight attendants and other work groups have already signed new contracts while the carrier’s parent company, AMR Corp., has been under bankruptcy protection.