May 18, 2012
American Airlines - TWU Begins Its Case
At the conclusion of the APFA's case today, the TWU cross examined Jeffrey Brundage, the former Senior Vice President of Human Resources for American. On cross examination Mr. Brundage admitted that the Debtors did not seek to address labor cost gaps in making their “asks” and that this method had not been used in other bankruptcy cases.
At the conclusion of the cross, the TWU opened its direct case. The TWU argued that the business plan, which the Debtors argued drives the demand for these deep concessions, is at best, premature. The TWU noted that no constituency affirmatively supports the business plan and even those constituencies that support the Debtors, have reserved their rights to challenge the business plan at a later time. Indeed, even the Debtors have admitted that they are looking at the other options, including the possibility of merger.
May 16, 2012
AS TO THOSE UNITS THAT VOTED YES TO ACCEPT THE LAST OFFER:
Q. When does the offer actually go into effect?
A. First, the court has to ultimately approve the five agreements. This is certainly expected to happen, but there is no time set for this to occur. Second, TWU and AA have an understanding that the new agreements, even after court approval, will not go into effect until all the other union labor groups, (including M&R and Stores,) have resolved their 1113 bankruptcy asks. The groups that voted yes will not have to experience the concessions until all contract groups have completed their 1113 process, either by ratifying a deal or by having their contract rejected. All groups will be treated equally as to the start time of any concessions.
Q. What happens if another group gets a better overall ask than the one to which our bargaining unit agreed?