May 15, 2003|By KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBUNE
FORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines will lay off more than 3,000 flight attendants effective July 1, the result of labor concessions, recent cuts in flights and employees returning from voluntary leaves, union leaders said yesterday.
A total of 3,123 flight attendants will be furloughed, said George Price, spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
In addition, 1,502 attendants have agreed to take voluntary leaves of absence, and 43 signed up for job-sharing partnerships, he said.
The cuts will eliminate every former TWA flight attendant who still works for American, Price said, a total of about 1,800 workers.
Those attendants, who are based at American's St. Louis hub, were placed at the bottom of the union's seniority list when American bought bankrupt TWA in 2001. Because workers are cut from the bottom of the list, the former TWA flight attendants have been the most vulnerable to layoffs.
The cuts have been expected since the union signed off on $340 million in annual concessions last month.
American executives said recently that they expected up to 5,000 flight attendants to be cut. The total was less - about 4,600 layoffs and leaves - because of attrition, said Todd Burke, an American spokesman.
"We recognize that furloughs are painful," Burke said. American will make resources, including job placement and assistance programs, available for employees, he said.
The flight attendants' union also has assistance available to furloughed members, Price said.
Including this round of layoffs, more than 6,000 flight attendants have been laid off since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to the union.
Workers at American's three unions, including the flight attendants' group, last month ratified $1.6 billion in annual concessions, which will mean up to 7,500 jobs will be cut, according to the airline.
