By John Crawley WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - American Airlines(AMR) Chairman Donald Carty said on on Thursday he hoped the pace of contract talks with the carrier's pilots would quicken in mediation, but he did not rule out that big labor concessions at other carriers might affect the scope of an agreement. "We'll have to wait that out," Carty told a National Press Club audience on the prospects that potential givebacks elsewhere could impact negotiations with the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 13,000 pilots at the world's biggest airline. "Of course we haven't seen any real concessions at any other carrier at this stage," Carty said. "At American, we've taken the view that it is management's job to find all of the ways to enhance profitability of our business short of going after our employees to solve that problem. "There are a lot of changes we can make that we can control. If there were massive concessionary agreements at major competitors, it would obviously have an impact on the future of American and the future of its employees," Carty said. United Airlines (UAL) and US Airways (U) are seeking economic concessions from all their employee groups as part of efforts to turn around their finances. As a condition of federal loan guarantees, the two carriers must slash labor costs substantially. American did not seek loan credits from the government to bolster its business plan for reversing huge losses blamed on an industry wide drop in demand caused by recession and the fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks. United pilots recently agreed to a 10 percent wage reduction in return for increases later and stock options. Pilots at US Airways have tentatively agreed to roughly 26 percent in pay cuts but talks continue on a final deal. The talks between American and its pilots, which began a year ago, have stalled over wages as the union seeks salaries in line with industry leading contracts won by their colleagues at United and Delta Air Lines (DAL) in recent years. The National Mediation Board, which oversees airline contract negotiations, appointed a mediator on Monday for the American talks. American pilots are paid on average about 20 percent to 30 percent less than their counterparts at United and Delta. Robert Ames, an American captain and vice president of the pilots union, said the contract negotiations could drag on despite the influence of mediation to reach a deal. "We would like to conclude this in six months. If we don't get (an agreement) in six months, we might not get it for a year," Ames said in an interview after Carty's remarks in Washington. Recent mediated contract talks involving big airline unions were not settled quickly. Some prompted White House intervention or the threat of intervention to prevent strikes and facilitate 11th-hour settlements. ©2002 Reuters Limited.