04/24/2003 - Updated 12:07 PM ET Report: Board member to seek Carty's ouster FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) =97 The board of American Airlines met Thursday to=20 consider a possible bankruptcy filing and the fate of chief executive=20 Donald J. Carty as management tried to assuage labor leaders angry over=20 executive perks that could scuttle cost-cutting agreements reached last=20 week. Board member David Boren plans to call for Carty's replacement,=20 saying most directors had been led to believe that the chairman and CEO had= =20 disclosed executive bonuses to union leaders before employees approved $1.8= =20 billion in annual concessions. "Mr. Carty has lost the credibility and=20 trust necessary to effectively lead the company through challenging times,"= =20 Boren told the Tulsa World. A spokesman said American had no comment on the= =20 remarks made by Boren, the president of the University of Oklahoma and a=20 former U.S. senator. On Wednesday, American's parent, AMR Corp., reported a= =20 worse-than-expected $1.04 billion first-quarter loss, and Carty and other=20 executives met with union leaders in an effort to salvage the concessions=20 deals, which American says it needs to avoid bankruptcy. Two elected=20 officials who met with both sides Wednesday said the Fort Worth-based=20 airline was prepared to file for bankruptcy if it can't resolve differences= =20 with labor groups. Employees remain angry after learning late last week about executive=20 bonuses and pension payments that would be protected in bankruptcy. Two of= =20 the three unions now want new votes on concessions that Carty insists are=20 necessary to ward off a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Analysts say the=20 labor unrest has increased pressure on the company's board of directors to= =20 remove Carty. U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Arlington, and Rep. Pete Sessions,= =20 a Dallas Republican, both said a possible bankruptcy filing would be on the= =20 board's agenda Thursday. The meeting time was as yet undetermined. "If it=20 is left unresolved, there's a pretty good chance the board will approve a=20 Chapter 11 filing," Frost said. A person involved in Wednesday's=20 negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said American was=20 considering sweetening its original offers to the unions to stop new=20 elections or to speed up the voting process. Unions representing flight=20 attendants and ground employees were planning 30-day elections, while the=20 pilots' union is threatening to withhold formal approval of its earlier=20 vote. The quarterly loss was equivalent to $6.68 per share, compared with a= =20 loss of $1.56 billion, or $10.09 per share, in last year's first quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected a loss of $6.08 per=20 share, or $948 million. Carty blamed the first-quarter results on weak=20 travel demand caused by the sluggish economy, war in Iraq and the SARS=20 outbreak. He also said high fuel prices and low fares contributed to=20 results that were "truly dreadful." "All told, it's a perilous climate and= =20 our success is far from assured," he said in a statement. None of=20 American's unions have demanded Carty's resignation, but some members of=20 the pilot's union board believe the CEO should go, said spokesman Steve=20 Blankenship. "We're not having to do much. This guy is setting himself up=20 to fail," Blankenship said. "The issue is clearly on the AMR board's=20 shoulders." Carty has apologized for not disclosing the executive perks=20 sooner. The company canceled the bonuses but not the $41 million in pension= =20 funding for 45 executives. *************************************************** 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.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************