American Airlines has narrowly averted a massive bankruptcy filing when flight attendants joined two other unions in approving sweeping wage concessions.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants accepted a package to cut wages and benefits by $340 million, reversing a rejection by the group the previous day.The vote, announced late last night, showed 10,761 flight attendants in favour of concessions, and 9,652 against.By securing a total $1.8 billion in concessions from labour, in addition to another $2 billion in structural costs already cut, the airline hopes to begin reversing its dismal financial performance of the last two years.But AMR chief executive Mr Don Carty said: "Given the hostile financial and business environment we find ourselves in and its inherent risks, the success of our efforts is not assured".American, based in Fort Worth, Texas, had repeatedly said all three of its major labour groups must ratify concessions or it would file for bankruptcy shortly.
Earlier this week, its two other major unions voted in favour of concessions pacts. The individual concession packages were $660 million from pilots, $620 million from mechanics and ground workers, $340 from flight attendants and $180 million from management and other nonunion groups.