Pilots say American Air seeks 1,000 furloughs = = = = Wednesday March 26, 4:40 PM EST = (Adds details, stock price paragraphs 12-13) DALLAS, March 26 (Reuters) - The union representing pilots at American Ai= rlines on Wednesday said the struggling carrier is asking to furlough an = additional 1,000 pilots as part of a wage-concession deal. The union said there are already 1,078 American pilots on furlough and th= e call for additional furloughs is a move by management at American, a di= vision of AMR Corp. (AMR), to bring a new wrinkle into talks as an agreem= ent nears on concessions. "Management has indicated it wants to furlough nearly 1,000 additional pi= lots without assigning any dollar value to those furloughs," the Allied P= ilots Association said in a statement. "It appears to us to be bad-faith = negotiations." = American said the furloughs referred to by the union were already account= ed for before the airline ever went to the APA for contract changes and w= ere over and above what the airline needed to operate as of the start of = the year. On Tuesday, the APA, which represents some 13,500 pilots at American, sai= d its board will likely vote by the end of this month on a wage-concessio= n deal the union is hammering out with management at the struggling carri= er. The final say on any deal would come from the union's rank and file. AMR has said it needs to cut structural costs by about $4 billion a year = to avoid bankruptcy. It is in talks with all three of its major unions over a call it made las= t month for $1.8 billion in annual wage concessions. It has asked the APA= to agree to some $660 million in cost savings. "Their (management's) goal now is $660 million plus several hundred addit= ional pilot furloughs," the union said. "We are perplexed by this last-mi= nute change in attitude, and so are the mediators involved in our negotia= tions." The union said that if American can steer clear of bankruptcy, it is cons= idering a variety of options to change the airline, including a possible = employee purchase of the world's largest carrier. "Furloughs, while regrettable, are resulting from the overage under the t= erms of our existing agreement," American Airlines said in a statement. "Therefore, they were never included in the $660 million in structural co= ntract changes. We discussed this issue with the APA a number of weeks ag= o and several times recently," it said. An American spokesman added the airline has not increased the $1.8 billio= n in wage concession it was seeking in order to help stave off bankruptcy= =2E AMR shares closed down 7 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $2.19 in trading on th= e New York Stock Exchange. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS