Airline Mediators To Hold First Meeting

The special board appointed by President Clinton to meditate the pilots dispute at American Airlines is set to begin meeting today.

Three arbitrators are to hear the dispute and devise a way to resolve the pay and job security disagreements that led to a pilots strike on Feb. 15.

The strike was only minutes old when Clinton intervened by establishing the emergency board and sending the pilots back to work.

The board, which meets in Washington, is to report its recommendation March 17. If either American’s parent company, AMR Corp., or the Allied Pilot Association disagree with the recommendation, then they must wait 30 days before acting. At that time, the pilots could strike or Congress could legislate a contract.

The three members of the Presidential Emergency Board appointed by Clinton are:

Chairman Robert R. Harris, a former chairman of the National Mediation Board.

Helen M. Witt, also a onetime chairman of the National Mediation Board, who handled negotiations in 1985 between TWA and its flight attendants.

Anthony V. Sinicropi, an arbitration specialist and professor emeritus at the University of Iowa.