BY JANET POST
MIAMI - On May 5 pilots at American Airlines approved a
new contract by a 69 percent margin. This follows three years
of negotiations between the Allied Pilots Association and
American Airlines, as well as a brief February 15 strike that
was blocked by President William Clinton minutes after it
began. Clinton then appointed a Presidential Emergency Board
to propose a settlement.
Over the life of the five year contract, pilots will gain a 9 percent pay raise and elimination of the two-tier wage scale that pays junior pilots less. They will also get $5.75 million in stock options. However, the pilots lost the main issue in dispute -the right to fly the fleet of small jets American is planning to buy. These regional flights, with some restrictions on their length and duration negotiated into the new contract, will be flown by lower paid pilots at the company's commuter affiliate, American Eagle.
The sentiments of the pilots was closely watched by both the government and big business. South Florida pilots, who had been portrayed in the media as a "hotbed of union militancy," voted 52.9 percent for and 47.1 against the contract.