Staff Reduction To Begin At The End Of February

American Airlines says it will furlough 175 pilots beginning at the end of next month and continuing through the first quarter of 2010, the result of a number of economic factors placing financial stress on the airline.

American made the announcement Monday. In a prepared statement, the airline said "The impact of the economy and reduction in capacity over the last 18 months, coupled with lower than expected pilot attrition, has resulted in a pilot surplus. This was a painful but necessary decision, as this staffing adjustment will better align the size of our pilot organization with the size of our current operation.

The company has been working with the Allied Pilots Association to develop possible furlough mitigation solutions to ease this transition and will continue to do so. We are also pleased that we were able to work with the APA to move up the furlough date by one day to achieve eligibility for subsidized COBRA medical benefits for the first group of furloughed pilots. American values and respects the professionalism, commitment and contributions of our pilots and regrets having to make this difficult decision."

Allied Pilots Association spokesman Gregg Overman told The Dallas Morning News "There's no other way to put it – it's terrible news. One pilot furlough is one too many, and we already have nearly 1,900 remaining on furlough."

American said pilots that are furloughed could be recalled if the airline expands or there are openings due to attrition. But, the airline said, some of the pilots about to be grounded had just recently been recalled. "That's just a terrible situation to find yourself in," Overman said.

FMI: www.aa.com, www.alliedpilots.org/