'Agreement In Principle' Reached Between The Two Parties

In a brief video statement released by the Allied Pilots Association, APA President Keith Wilson says the union has reached an "agreement-in-principle" on a new contract with American Airlines. The video was released late Friday.

In the video, Wilson (pictured in capture from video) said the leadership of the union presented a "comprehensive counter proposal" to AA management. The vote to forward the proposal by the board of directors was 13-2 with one absent.

Wilson says the counter-proposal addresses "our memberships' expectations of an industry-standard contract, and reflects the value the profession brings to the corporation."

Wilson said that AA management has responded "by accepting out proposal," meaning that the two sides have an agreement in principle. "The APA board of directors will comply with APA policy, and after reviewing contractual language, will vote to send it to our membership as a tentative agreement for ratification," Wilson said. "We anticipate that the board will reconvene in approximately one week for that vote," he said.

Wilson said that specifics of the agreement will be released after the details have been shared with the membership.

The contract with the pilot's union is the only labor dispute that remains unresolved in American's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

FMI: www.aa.com/i18n/amrcorp/corporateInformation/facts/amr.jsp, www.alliedpilots.org