The vote was the second for the union, which had soundly rejected the first deal 61 percent to 39 percent, triggering a short-lived strike in February. Three pilots have asked a federal judge to block the contract, claiming American management illegally interfered in the union's internal debate. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate Monday's results and force another vote. Despite the acceptance vote, there remains a great deal of hostility among many pilots over regional jets, a key issue in the contract debate. American's parent company, AMR Corp., fought to have its subsidiary American Eagle fly the jets and refused to back down to American pilot demands to control the aircraft.
American pilots fear they'll lose jobs if the carrier shifts routes to the smaller jets.
I believe it was an issue of trust. Our pilots have had a very difficult time trusting the management of this corporation. Although pilots failed to get the jets, they did get concessions on flight distance, jet size and fleet size, along with job guarantees. Pilots will receive raises of more than 9 percent through 2001 and stock options. Also, the company will end a second-tier wage scale adopted in the early 1980s.