Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, has canceled 250 flights this week and will cut capacity by up to 2 percent through the end of October, as pilots unhappy with their labor contract have started to call in sick.
The pilots’ union had a new labor agreement imposed on it by the bankruptcy court after rank-and-file pilots last month rejected the tentative deal that their union, the Allied Pilots Association, had reached with management. Members of other unions at American, representing flight attendants and ground workers, have ratified their own concession deals with the airline.
American Airlines is sending layoff warning notices to more than 11,000 employees, although a spokesman said the company expects job losses to be closer to 4,400.
The notices went out to mechanics and ground workers whose jobs will be affected as American goes through a bankruptcy reorganization.
AMR filed for bankruptcy in November, 2011, citing the need to cut labor costs in order to be competitive with other carriers that have already gone through bankruptcy, including United Continental, Delta Air Lines and US Airways.
