American, Citing Alleged Sickout, to Lay Off Workers : Airlines: Pilots claim the Dallas carrier, which plans to drop 92 daily flights, is using them as scapegoats and would have made the cuts anyway.

American Airlines said Wednesday that it will reduce its flight schedule and lay off workers later this month due to what it termed an illegal pilot sickout, but the pilots said the airline was using them as scapegoats for reductions it would make anyway.

The Dallas-based airline said it hadn’t determined how many employees would be affected. A spokeswoman for American said the airline plans to drop 92 of its 2,300 daily flights, a 4% reduction.

The cutbacks represent the latest skirmish in the stormy, 14-month contract talks between the airline and its 9,000 pilots. American last week obtained a court order that barred pilots from participating in such jobs actions as sickouts.

American said that 60,000 holiday travelers were inconvenienced and 800 flights canceled between Dec. 28 and Jan. 1, because so many pilots said they were sick. The problems peaked New Year’s Eve, when--according to the airline--crew shortages were responsible for 277 of 303 flight cancellations.

The Allied Pilots Assn., however, has continually denied that it is staging a sickout. The union said that a large number of pilots were out sick because of an influenza epidemic, adding that weather was responsible for many of the other delays.

The number of flight cancellations dropped dramatically Wednesday. As of midday, American said, nine of 34 cancellations were related to crew shortages.

Nonetheless, American said that it needs to reduce its flight schedule this month if it is to have enough reserve pilots available to take over as substitutes if the alleged sickout continues.

The pilots union countered that American normally reduces its schedule during the slow winter travel season; a reduction was expected this year, the union said, because travel is unusually light.

Several of American’s competitors, such as Northwest Airlines and USAir, have laid off workers and dropped flights.

“It is very unfortunate that they are casting the pilots in the role of villains,” said union spokesman Danny King. “It only serves to reduce sympathy in the eyes of the public for the pilots and to turn the other employee groups on the pilots.”

Contract talks between the pilots and American management, which focus on wages and health benefits, have grown increasingly bitter. The two sides are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator Monday in Washington.

The deteriorating relationship wasn’t helped Wednesday by a newspaper advertisement in which American blamed the pilots for flight delays--misidentifying their union in the process. The ad, which appeared in The Times and several other newspapers around the country, apologized to customers for inconveniences caused by an “illegal sickout” conducted by the “Airline Pilots Assn.”

American’s pilots said they were insulted by the advertisement. “You would think they could at least get the name right,” said Allied Pilots Assn. strike task force member Gary Staggs. “It makes them look inept.”

The Air Line Pilots Assn.--which represents pilots at United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other major carriers--called the ad defamatory and demanded a correction. American said it would run corrected ads today.

“We extend our fullest sympathies to our brethren at APA, who are attempting to negotiate with a company that apparently does not even know which union it is dealing with,” ALPA said.