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Pilot Shortage Prompts American to Cancel 13 Flights

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Despite a court order, hundreds of American Airlines pilots continued to call in sick Thursday in what the Dallas-based carrier calls an illegal job action and the union terms bad planning by the airline.

By Thursday evening, according to the airline, 524 cockpit crew members had called in sick, causing 13 flights to be canceled in the midst of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

All told, American cancelled 24 of its 2,300 flights Thursday; the others were dropped for non-labor-related reasons, such as weather and mechanical problems.

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The pilots’ labor group, the Allied Pilots Assn., denied that there was any organized sickout, saying American typically has trouble meeting its schedule during the busy month of December.

The situation has had a minimal effect on travel, travel agents say.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Fort Worth issued a temporary restraining order barring pilots from staging job actions that could delay flights or cause them to be cancelled. American said it had cancelled an average of 20 flights daily since the beginning of the week because at least one crew member had called in sick.

Bill Walters, a spokesman for the union, said it would be “naive” to believe that if there were a union-sponsored action, only about 300 pilots would call in sick. Routinely, he said, about 200 of American’s 9,000 pilots are out sick--a figure with which the airline agreed.

“We categorically deny that there is any union-sponsored activity to conduct any illegal job action,” said Walters. “We are disappointed that American has used the tactic of taking its pilots to court to seek legal relief from a historically recurring problem that American has every December--meeting its flight commitments.”

The union issued a statement Thursday noting that the Centers for Disease Control reported an outbreak of influenza A and B in 18 states and that doctors in 42 states say roughly 4% of their patients are reporting flu symptoms.

Robert W. Baker, American’s executive vice president of operations, said crews normally are assigned to trips that last three days. In the current situation, he said, generally one crew member has called in sick--often too late for the airline to find a replacement.

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Asked how it could be proven if a pilot was ill or not, Baker said: “If I go to your house and catch you chopping wood, I gotcha.”

Though some passengers have faced delays, Baker said American has been able to make alternative accommodations for all travelers, either on later American flights or on competing airlines. The airline has lost some income, he said, because it had to transfer passengers to other carriers or provide meals and overnight lodging.

Baker blasted the union for the timing of its alleged job action. Bad weather already is hampering air travel in many parts of the country, he noted. American also is dealing with the complications of having 230 pilots called up for military duty in the Persian Gulf.

Differences between American and its pilots have been simmering for almost two years.

American opened talks with the union three months before the pilots’ bargaining agreement became amendable on Jan. 31, 1989. After discussions failed to bring the two sides any closer, a federal mediator was called in.

A recent proposal by the airline and counterproposal by the union have driven both groups further apart.

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