AMR hopes 'no' vote turns to 'yes' By Dan Reed, USA TODAY FORT WORTH =97 American Airlines delayed its threatened Chapter 11= bankruptcy=20 filing 24 hours, until 5 p.m. CT Wednesday, hoping that a narrow rejection= =20 of a $340 million-a-year concessions package by its flight attendants can=20 be reversed during an unprecedented extra day of voting. Pilots and ground= =20 workers agreed to give up $660 million a year and $620 million a year,=20 respectively, in pay, benefits and work rules changes. But members of the=20 Association of Professional Flight Attendants rejected their part of the=20 cost cuts package by a scant 533 votes, 9,842 to 9,309. American officials= =20 say concessions from all three unions are required if the world's largest=20 airline is to avoid bankruptcy-court-protected reorganization. AMR,=20 American's parent, has lost $5.3 billion in the past two years and is=20 expected to announce it lost more than $800 million in the first quarter.=20 American had set an 11 a.m. CT deadline for learning the voting results.=20 Tuesday, vice president and general counsel Gary Kennedy led a team of=20 bankruptcy lawyers to New York, where they were prepared to file a=20 bankruptcy petition late that evening. But given the small margin of defeat among flight attendants, the fact that= =20 4,150 attendants did not vote, and what's at stake, CEO Don Carty offered=20 the one-day extension if the flight attendants union would re-open the=20 voting and change the rules to allow members to change their votes. Pilots= =20 and ground workers had the option of changing their phoned-in votes from=20 the outset. Late Tuesday, American made several large debt payments=20 originally due on April 1. The airline had used grace period provisions to= =20 avoid making those payments and preserve cash while workers voted on=20 concessions negotiated March 31. Another round of payments is due today. If= =20 concessions deals aren't approved, the company will enter bankruptcy=20 protection rather than make those payments, Carty said. "We agreed to take this risk and make this investment for our employees=20 because we believe that all employees will be better off" if American stays= =20 out of bankruptcy, Carty said Tuesday. More than 4,000 American workers=20 will join the 25,000 or more laid off since the Sept. 11 attacks if the=20 concessions deals are fully ratified. Rejection likely would cost 8,000 to= =20 10,000 more workers their jobs. Those who remain after a bankruptcy=20 reorganization filing would be asked to increase the total annual value of= =20 their concessions by another $500 million. George Price, a spokesman for=20 the flight attendants union, said the biggest concern among flight=20 attendants seems to have been the length of the concessions agreement.=20 Originally it was set for almost six years, but over the weekend, American= =20 shortened the term to end Dec. 31, 2008. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) 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.carstt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************