Same worries felt in Dallas & every other Braniff city in 1982. Ironic, since AA did everything in its power to hasten BN's bankruptcy. -Mo On Fri, 14 Mar 2003, Roger James wrote: > Airline's troubles worry Oklahoma city >=20 > OWASSO, Okla. (AP) =97 In a city where American Airlines' contributions c= an=20 > be measured in everything from cups of coffee to car sales, the airline's= =20 > troubles had some residents on edge Thursday. About 1,000 of the 10,000= =20 > workers at American's Tulsa maintenance base live here, helping to make t= he=20 > Tulsa suburb Oklahoma's fastest growing city. But they're not the only on= es=20 > uneasy about the future of the world's largest carrier. "It worries me,"= =20 > said Gary Briggs, who works on cars, not airplanes, but attributes a=20 > decline in his business partly to jittery American employees staving off= =20 > inevitable repairs. The stock of AMR, American's parent, has lost more th= an=20 > 90% of its value in the past year. Shares fell sharply this week after=20 > reports that AMR was negotiating financing to operate under bankruptcy=20 > protection. The uncertainty over what's next may have some residents=20 > thinking twice about making big buys or dining out, said Gary Akin,=20 > president of the Chamber of Commerce. "American Airlines isn't going to g= o=20 > away," he said. "It could be restructured. Does it mean overall lower=20 > benefits? Does it mean overall lower wages? "What will American look like= =20 > two or three years from now? I don't think anyone knows." >=20 > In an effort to avoid bankruptcy, American has proposed concessions that= =20 > include salary and benefits reductions. Leaders of the Transport Workers= =20 > Union, which represents mechanics, baggage handlers and other ground=20 > workers, said they would review the proposal. A decade ago, American=20 > employees made up roughly 40 percent of Owasso households, said Tim Roone= y,=20 > assistant city manager. That percentage decreased as Owasso's population= =20 > grew 79 percent from 1990 to 20,000 last year. Residential building permi= ts=20 > increased nearly six-fold during the same period. The city's average=20 > household income is $66,723. > Sales tax revenues, however, have not met expectations in recent months,= =20 > Rooney said. The city budgeted for a 7.72 percent sales tax increase over= =20 > last year but now believes that number will be about 2.8 percent less. "B= ut=20 > we don't necessarily attribute that to what's going on at American," he= =20 > said. "We attribute it to more what's going on nationally" with uncertain= ty=20 > over potential war in Iraq. >=20 > Some Owasso residents have lost jobs as WorldCom, in an industrial park= =20 > just outside city limits, has cut its work force=20 > of=20 > 4,600 by nearly half. Business has dropped off just a little at the Ram= =20 > Cafe, a diner named for the school mascot, where a mostly blue-collar cro= wd=20 > gathers for breakfast at 5:30 a.m.Owner Mary Lou Barnhouse said she feels= =20 > for the families of American Airlines employees who have come to count on= =20 > well-paying maintenance jobs. But she knows many more Owasso residents=20 > could be affected by the company's struggles."I could see where it could= =20 > have a mushroom effect on Owasso," she said over the slap and sizzle of= =20 > burgers. "If there should be layoffs or cutbacks on salaries, it could ha= ve=20 > an effect on everyone." > Loretta Tittle's son-in-law works at American as a mechanic. News reports= =20 > on the company's outlook now grab her attention. > She worries, even though her daughter has a job, too.If American has to l= ay=20 > off workers or goes bankrupt, she said, "it would be like taking half the= =20 > food off the table." >=20 >=20 > *************************************************** > The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com > Roj (Roger James) >=20 > escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx > Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com > Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ > Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ > Site of the Week: http://www.tha.gov.tt/ > TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt > ********************************************************* >=20