Flight Attendants At American Eagle Ratify Bankruptcy Agreement

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Flight Attendants at American Eagle, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), today approved a tentative agreement with management. This agreement, which includes substantial improvements over management's original bankruptcy term sheet as well as their Last Best Final Offer, was approved by 87 percent of voting AFA members.

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"American Eagle Flight Attendants are eager to move forward and focus on rebuilding our great carrier. The bankruptcy laws give companies an indecent and abusive amount of power.  It is not a fair fight, so we have to fight smart. We did that in the bankruptcy negotiations and fought hard to achieve a deal which preserves our work rules and actually includes wage hikes and other improvements. No one wanted to vote 'FOR' this agreement, but our members recognized that doing so was in our best long-term interest," said Robert Barrow, AFA President at American Eagle. "AFA has been dedicated to doing everything in our power to combat management's outrageous demands at the bargaining table. After intense bankruptcy talks, we attained the best possible agreement in the worst of circumstances."

On November 29, 2011, American Airlines (AMR) filed for bankruptcy, including American Eagle, and notified AFA that they would be pursuing concessions pursuant to Section 1113 (c) of the Bankruptcy Code, even though American Eagle had posted profits in the last several years. American Eagle is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corporation, with Flight Attendant domiciles in Dallas, Miami, Chicago, San Juan, Los Angeles and JFK-LaGuardia, and provides regional feed for American Airlines.

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world's largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 67 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions.  Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants and retired members come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org and www.rafa-cwa.org.

SOURCE Association of Flight Attendants