DALLAS (AP) — Union leaders at American Airlines agreed to let pilots vote on a company proposal for deep cuts in labor spending, just two days before a bankruptcy judge could have imposed even tougher terms.
A union spokesman said Wednesday that the Allied Pilots Association board voted 9-7 to order a ratification vote on American's offer, reversing a board decision from last week.
American said that with the pilots' vote now set, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane would postpone his decision on whether to throw out the airline's contracts with pilots and other employees for several weeks.
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The union said pilots would begin voting in mid-July and results would be counted Aug. 8.
Separately, American said it also would resume negotiations with flight attendants and mechanics next week.
American has said all along that it wanted to reach voluntary cost-cutting deals with its unions. But negotiations went nowhere for weeks other than settlements with a few smaller groups of workers.
But American may have broken the logjam last week when it eased demands on pilots, including removing a threat to lay off 400 of them.
If ratified, the deal would give American the right to hire other airlines for more of its regional flying, something they pilots have long opposed as a threat to job security.
But the pilots would get 14.8 percent pay raises over five years and a stake in the "new" company that emerges from bankruptcy. Their pension plan would be frozen but not terminated.
Even if no pilots are furloughed, American's current plan still calls for 9,800 job cuts, mostly among ground workers but including 2,300 flight attendants. Those groups are likely to seek reduced job losses in new negotiations that begin next week.
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