American, Pilots Look To Federal Mediator Both Sides Hope To Avoid Strike At Start Of Upcoming Holiday Weekend

With 90,000 jobs and travel plans for more than 200,000 people a day in the balance, American Airlines and its pilots turned to a federal mediator Monday in an effort to stave off a holiday-weekend strike.

If no agreement is reached by midnight Friday, the end of a federally mandated cooling-off period, the pilots have threatened a strike and the airline has said it would shut down. That would hobble a fifth of the nation’s air-travel capacity, leaving ticketed passengers without a ride.

A federal mediator will shuttle proposals between representatives of the nation’s largest domestic airline and the Allied Pilots Association at a downtown hotel.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline, a division of AMR Corp., has promised to try to accommodate passengers by helping them find seats on other airlines if a strike is called. But that may be a difficult promise to keep with most seats on other carriers filled going into the Presidents Day weekend.

“We would ask that our passengers be somewhat flexible,” said American spokesman John Hotard.

The National Mediation Board asked for the same from the two sides in the talks.

“I think we’re going into this with an open mind. It’s a very focused situation,” said mediation board chairman Kenneth Hipp. “We hope it will be a short week.”

American and the union, which represents only American pilots, are butting heads over compensation and job security, although other contract issues could be discussed.

The pilots, who have not had a basic wage increase since their contract became amendable in 1993, are asking for raises more than double what the company offered in a tentative contract, voted down by the union last month.

The company had agreed to increase salaries by 3 percent this year and 2 percent in 1999. It also had added stock options that were understood to represent retroactive pay since the contract has already been in talks for more than two years.

The union is seeking raises of about 11 percent over four years, plus increased stock options. American pilots earn an average $120,000 a year.

Although pay plays a large role, the second and possibly more divisive issue is who should fly the company’s small jets.

AMR had hoped to buy 67 jets to be flown by its commuter division, American Eagle. American pilots said no dice, wanting Eagle to remain strictly the “propeller division.”

Airline president Donald J. Carty said the issue is American’s competitiveness; the union says it believes American pilots can fly the small jets at comparable costs.

As the rhetoric gears up, so has fear of a strike.

“At times like this there’s a lot of tension,” said Carty.

Pilots, who have walking informational picket lines, report taunts and obscene gestures from other employee groups. There also have been several reports of threats.

Pilots are being instructed to be careful in their comments and not to park in the employee lots.

“People are anxious, but that doesn’t mean they should take it on themselves,” said airline spokesman Chris Chiames. “The pilots are not the enemy.”