Flight attendants' vote lets American dodge Chapter 11 By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY American Airlines' flight attendants voted Wednesday to approve $340=20 million in wage cuts, which allowed the struggling carrier to avert =97 for= =20 now =97 a threatened bankruptcy protection filing. Wednesday's vote, along= =20 with favorable votes the day before from its other unions, gives the=20 world's largest airline the $1.8 billion in concessions it said it needed=20 to avoid following United Airlines, its closest rival and second-largest=20 airline, into bankruptcy court. US Airways filed last summer. American,=20 which has lost $5.3 billion in the past two years, and other carriers have= =20 been struggling since 2000 to survive cutbacks in business travel and sharp= =20 declines in revenue after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Both airlines had=20 jets hijacked on that day. A stagnant economy, the Iraq war and the SARS=20 virus affecting travelers have been additional blows. On Tuesday,=20 American's 23,000-strong flight attendants union voted against wage=20 concessions. But with bankruptcy looming, union members reconsidered and=20 agreed Wednesday to ratify the new contract. Unionized pilots, mechanics=20 and other ground crew workers had already approved concessions. "This=20 development is unprecedented in the history of the U.S. airline industry,"= =20 CEO Don Carty said in a statement. "These votes clearly demonstrate our=20 employees' dedication and commitment." The approval allows American to=20 compete more favorably against low-cost carriers such as Southwest and=20 JetBlue. Discount carriers compete with American on 80% of its routes. But= =20 the company still faces severe challenges. "American Airlines is not out of= =20 the woods, but the bankruptcy issue will not be laid on labor's doorstep,"= =20 said Brad Bartholomew, an airline labor specialist. "Now, it's up to=20 American's management and industry economics to find a path out of this."=20 Fitch Ratings, a major corporate debt-rating service, warned Wednesday that= =20 "completion of the labor-cost restructuring does not, however, eliminate=20 the ongoing credit challenges" in the troubled airline environment. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************