Catherwood LibraryILR School

Citing $2.5 billion losses in 2002 and a gloomy forecast for 2003, American Airlines is demanding that employees foot the bill for half of $4 billion in savings that the company claims it needs---but the struggling airline's workers have some demands of their own. Representatives of the pilots and other workers at American have told the company that its attempts to change the labor law covering airline workers to make it more difficult for them to strike are unacceptable and must be dropped before concessions are made (see WIT for Jan. 7, 2003). Echoing what is becoming a common complaint of workers at struggling U.S. airline companies (see WIT's for Jan. 17, 9 and 8, 2003), American Airlines employees and their unions are also calling on the company to quit keeping them in the dark---pointing out that the company has yet to disclose its financial situation to them, justify the need for concessions, or even come to them asking for concessions.