04/25/2003 - Updated 02:50 PM ET Last holdout union approves concessions at American Airlines FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ? Flight attendants at American Airlines agreed Friday to concessions that the company said it needed to avoid bankruptcy. Following approval a day earlier by the carrier's two other unions, the flight attendants' decision allowed American to avoid an immediate Chapter 11 filing. But the company's new chief executive said the world's largest carrier still has much work to do. Leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants had been badly split over a concessions offer that the company sweetened this week, with lingering anger aimed at Donald J. Carty, who resigned as chairman and chief executive late Thursday. "With new leadership in place at AMR, there was a renewed willingness from management to begin to repair the damage done to relations with its employees," said John Ward, president of the flight attendants' union. Gerard J. Arpey, AMR's president who replaces Carty as CEO, said praised the unions for agreeing to the concessions and said some employees will lose their jobs. "By any measure, we have our work cut out for us," Arpey said at a news conference Friday afternoon shortly after the flight attendants announced their agreement. "We are not out of the woods yet, but as your new CEO, I am up to the task. I will always do what is right. Working with our unions and all of our employees, together we will put American Airlines back on top," he said. The sweetened concessions include potential bonuses for employees and shortens the length of concessions by eight months, to five years with limited renegotiations possible even sooner. Unions representing pilots and ground workers approved the new offer Thursday and urged the flight attendants to follow suit, sources said. Airline officials said AMR would file for Chapter 11 protection unless all three unions accepted the wage and benefit concessions. Employees voted last week to accept concessions but reacted angrily when they later learned that the company had approved bonuses and pension payments for top executives. The company canceled bonuses for the top seven executives but left in place the $41 million in pension funding for 45 executives. Carty apologized for not disclosing the executive perks sooner, but his relationship with employees was beyond repair, union leaders said. With the airline's fate still up in the air and its financial situation deteriorating, Carty resigned after an emergency meeting of parent AMR Corp.'s board Thursday in Dallas. "It is now clear that my continuing on as chairman and CEO of American Airlines is still a barrier that, if removed, could give improved relations ? and thus long-term success ? the best possible chance," Carty, 58, said in a statement. While Arpey replaced Carty as CEO, board member and former Sears CEO Edward A. Brennan will take over as chairman. One of Arpey's first moves was to call four leaders of the flight attendants' union to his office when it became clear the union was balking at accepting concessions. It was not clear, however, whether the new leadership and labor deal would be enough to keep American out of bankruptcy for long. On Wednesday, AMR reported a $1 billion loss for the first quarter ? more than half the annual amount of the labor just-approved labor concessions, which take effect May 1. Airlines have been hit hard by a downturn in travel caused by the weak economy, the 2001 terrorist attacks, fear of new terrorism around the Iraq war, and the SARS outbreak. Competition from low-fare carriers has also put a lid on prices. Wall Street reacted positively to the news of the flight attendants' decision. In midafternoon trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, AMR shares were up 46 cents, or 11.4%, to $4.50. Arpey, 44, will remain president of American and AMR and said he would work to "restore the confidence of all employees in their great company." Brennan, 69, retired as chairman and CEO of Sears in 1995. He joined the AMR board in 1987. "It's a very good team that's been put in place, and I'm very supportive of it," said board member David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, who had called openly for Carty's removal. *************************************************** 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 *********************************************************