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Passengers in New York are among the hardest hit by American Airlines flight cancellations
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American Airlines seeks injunction to stop pilot work slowdown
February 10, 1999
Web posted at: 11:36 a.m. EST (1636 GMT)
FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- American Airlines has gone to court to
stop a job action by pilots that has forced the cancellation of
hundreds of flights.
The airline has asked a federal judge for a temporary
restraining order to force pilots to stop their slowdown.
The airline said earlier it will cancel flights for a sixth consecutive day on Wednesday, expecting at least 906 cancellations, about 40 percent of its total flights, as a work slowdown by pilots continues.
"It is quite possible that number could go higher," said Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline.
An estimated 75,000 passengers were inconvenienced on Tuesday as American, the nation's second-largest airline, canceled 827 flights when more than 2,000 pilots called in sick and others refused to work overtime. Since last Friday, American has canceled more than 1,500 flights because of a dispute between the airline and its pilots.
Talks between American and the Allied Pilots Association, the union representing the pilots, were to resume Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST in Fort Worth, Texas, following a session on Tuesday that a union representative said yielded no progress, according to the Pilots Association.
The slowdown has affected flights at some of the nation's busiest airports, including American Air hubs in New York, Dallas and Miami.
Carol Kaminski, managing editor for Best Fares, an online discount travel magazine, advised travelers who are booked with American to call before leaving for the airport to find out if their flights are canceled. She also said flyers should "be adamant" about being booked onto another flight with another carrier.
"Don't scream. It's not going to do you any good... but be adamant," she said.
American is referring passengers to its Web site for information about specific flights. When there's no information in the "Actual Flight Information" boxes on the site, that means the flight won't be flown, the airline said.
Some carriers are adding flights to accommodate American passengers. For example, Air Jamaica says it will transport anyone scheduled to fly American to the Caribbean island, which primarily affects passengers flying to Kingston and Montego Bay from Miami, with connecting flights from other U.S. cities.
Kaminksi said American was accommodating 90 percent of its domestic travelers on other flights. Although the flyers have no legal right to be reimbursed for their airfare, they do have the right to be accommodated on a flight with another airline, she said.
She also said that the situation with American may not be the last. "Consumers need to expect more of this type of thing with more acquisitions coming up," she said.
Late last week, negotiations broke down and pilots began refusing overtime in an effort to force American to settle a dispute over pay for pilots at Reno Air, a small carrier recently acquired by American. The American pilots say the purchase violates their contract and may cause them to lose assignments and jobs to the Reno Air pilots, who earn about half the $150,000 average annual salary earned by American pilots.
Federal law bars American pilots from striking over the issue, but they are allowed to refuse overtime and declare themselves "unfit to fly," pilot lingo for a sickout.
Reuters Limited contributed to this report.
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