Attendants Halt Contract Talks With Airline

American Airlines’ flight attendants broke off contract talks Saturday and said they will push for a nationwide boycott before a possible Thanksgiving week strike.

American said it did its best to settle the dispute, considering the harsh economic realities facing the airline industry.

Ray Abernathy, spokesman for the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants, said the airline was inflexible regarding staffing control, vacations, work rule changes and new employee contributions to retiree health benefits.

The 21,000-member union threatened to strike on or before Thanksgiving week, one of the year’s busiest travel times. It would be the first strike by flight attendants in American’s 50-year history.