Union plays hardball in bid for new contract

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing 12,000 pilots at American Airlines, earlier this month asked the National Mediation Board to intervene in the union’s ongoing contract talks with management. And last week, APA intensified the pressure on management with a new tactic apparently timed to capitalize on all the terrible p.r. American got due to its massive flight cancellations earlier this month: Pilots undertook a picketing and leafleting campaign at the headquarters offices of some of American’s biggest corporate clients and investors, like Fidelity Investments, Anheuser-Busch, Citigroup, Carnival Cruise Line, Glaxo SmithKline and Wells Fargo Bank, among others. The pilots are telling corporate flyers how bad American’s service has become, and asking them to help fix it. The pilots even took out ads in USA Today and on a billboard at DFW, asking passengers to share their bad experiences on American at a special website (www.TellYourAAStory.com). “Our airline doesn’t have enough workers to run dependably and doesn’t keep enough spare parts to ensure prompt repairs,” said APA president Capt. Lloyd Hill. “It’s clear that American Airlines management needs to reinvest in our airline, and do so quickly.”