American Airlines pilots stage protest
More than 150 American Airlines pilots picketed on the Chicago Tribune Plaza and in front of Boeing Co.'s headquarters in downtown Chicago on Tuesday, not to pick a fight but rather to recruit allies -- their company's top customers.
The demonstrations come after a week of maintenance woes that plagued American Airlines, a subsidiary of AMR Corp. The airline grounded its fleet of 300 MD-80 aircraft after Federal Aviation Administration inspectors found a problem with the wiring in the aircraft wheel wells.
Between Tuesday and Saturday last week, American Airlines canceled about 3,200 flights while it inspected its MD-80 fleet in an attempt to comply with the FAA's Airworthiness Directive, American Airlines press releases stated.
Separately, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted that the company will report a quarterly loss today. Its stock dropped 8 percent.
The problem with the wheel well wiring shows the airline is poorly managed, according to Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and representative of the Allied Pilots Association, a union representing more than 12,000 American Airlines pilots.
"This is not just a problem that popped up today," Tajer said Tuesday while picketing at the Chicago Tribune, citing problems of under-manning and under-supplying, problems that he pins specifically on American Airlines' management.
American Airlines' media relations did not respond to requests for comment on the demonstrations.
The picketing pilots handed out pamphlets proclaiming American Airlines' flight cancellation rate was high many others arrived late.
Daral Vining, an American Airlines pilot picketing at Boeing's 100 N. Riverside Plaza headquarters, said the purpose of the demonstrations was to draw attention to the airline's recent performance problems and convince management to reinvest in the company.
"We need to provide reliable service," Vining said, "and they haven't been listening."
The pilots union chose to picket at the Boeing and Chicago Tribune, and several other high profile corporate locations in nine cities nationwide as well as London, with more than 1,100 pilots to appeal to American's most valued and most important corporate clients, Tajer said.
The pilots also welcomed their beleaguered customers to share their tales of traveler's remorse at www.tellyouraastory.com, a collection they plan to forward to American Airlines' management.
AMR's stock has decreased $1.69, or 16 percent, since the MD-80 fleet was temporarily grounded on April 8. Shares fell 77 cents Tuesday, closing to $8.57 Tuesday.