American Air furloughs 3,100 flight attendants = = = = Tuesday July 1, 2:37 PM EDT = By Jon Herskovitz DALLAS, July 1 (Reuters) - About 3,100 American Airlines flight attendant= s were furloughed effective Tuesday as a part of a restructuring plan aim= ed at saving the bankruptcy-threatened airline. The furloughs were expected and include about 1,750 flight attendants who= used to work for TWA, which was bought out by American, and some 1,300 A= merican flight attendants, a spokeswoman said. The jobs account for about= 3.5 percent of the work force at the world's largest carrier. "While it is always sad to say goodbye to our colleagues, the restructuri= ng is necessary to bring about the changes that are needed here to bring = us back to profitability," said a spokeswoman with American, a division o= f AMR Corp. (AMR). = American is trying to cut operating costs by about an annual $4 billion, = and earlier this year it reached deals with its major unions aimed at sav= ing $1.8 billion a year. The airline has also reduced capacity and cut do= wn on its fleet. George Price, a spokesman for the union that represents American's flight= attendants, said it is heartbreaking to see the furloughs, which he desc= ribed as an unprecedented number at one time. Thousand of pilots, mechani= cs and ground personnel at American have also lost their jobs due to the = restructuring. A federal judge turned down a bid to block the flight attendant furloughs= =2E Since Oct. 2001, American has furloughed 6,149 flight attendants, Pri= ce said. "We didn't run American Airlines into the ground financially. Unfortunate= ly, we are the ones helping to pick it back up," Price said. American narrowly averted a bankruptcy filing earlier this year. AMR Chie= f Executive Gerard Arpey said last month the carrier should save about $2= 00 million in the second quarter because of the labor deals; and as of Ju= ly, the airline should have about 35,000 fewer employees than it did in 2= 001. In a regulatory filing last week, Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR, said lower= costs and improved unit revenue led to positive cash flow from operation= s in May and that similar results might occur in June. AMR shares had rebounded from lows of about $1.30 in March, when the airl= ine teetered on the brink of a Chapter 11 filing, to about $10.60, off 40= cents, in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. = =A92003 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS