American Airlines strike would tie up cargo

February 14, 1997
Web posted at: 10:40 p.m. EST

From Correspondent John Zarrella

MIAMI (CNN) -- It's not just passengers who would be stranded by an American Airlines pilots strike: tons of cargo also would languish or wind up rerouted.

American Airlines handles nearly 1.5 million pounds of cargo every day in Miami, the airline's third largest hub.

Because American is the dominant carrier to Latin America, many cargo shippers such as Miami International Forwarders send much of their business to American Airlines.

Not any more. "In this particular case, we didn't want to take the risk of their going on strike, so we had to use an alternative airline," said Maria Diz of MIF.

Tens of thousands of pounds of air cargo -- computer parts, accessories, medical supplies -- are being rerouted.

For shippers, the price of doing business has gone up 10 to 25 percent. During a news conference at Miami International Airport, Dade County Commissioner Natacha Millan summed up American's labor-management tension: "I definitely want these fools to come to the table and settle this."

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