AA Pilots Fail In Bid for CRJ700s

The May 1 deadline for the Allied Pilots Association to convince the other employee groups to accept pay cuts to allow the transfer of American Eagle’s 25 Bombardier CRJ700s to the mainline has passed without an agreement. As a result, Eagle will continue to fly the 70-seat jets and likely begin exercising options for the final 25 allowed under its scope clause. In return for post-9/11 pay concessions agreed upon in March of last year, American management promised to transfer the airplanes to the mainline if the APA could convince mechanics and flight attendants to renegotiate their contracts to produce a “revenue neutral” outcome. Originally given a year to reach a consensus, the APA gained a two-month deadline extension this past March, but failed to take advantage of the extra time.