AirTran, flight attendants reach tentative contract CHICAGO (Reuters) =97 AirTran Airways and the Association of Flight=20 Attendants said Monday they had reached a tentative agreement on a new=20 contract for the low-cost carrier's 1,100 flight attendants. The=20 Orlando-based airline's parent, AirTran Holdings Inc. and the union did not= =20 release details on the new contract. The deal is subject to a ratification= =20 vote by AFA's membership that is expected to take about four weeks, they=20 said. The current flight attendant contract became amendable last October.= =20 The flight attendants' new contract comes as other carriers are negotiating= =20 with their unions on paycuts and other concessions to help them weather a=20 severe industry downturn. "It's important in these turbulent times for our= =20 industry that we could work with the company to reach an agreement that's=20 good for the flight attendants and good for the airline," Jon Edenfield,=20 president of AirTran's AFA unit, said in a statement. AirTran Chief=20 Executive Joe Leonard in a statement also praised the new contract, which=20 he said benefited the company's crew members as well as its shareholders=20 and customers. Shares of AirTran were off 22 cents to $8.98 in late trade=20 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday. *************************************************** 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/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************