Pilot Sick Calls Drop After Threat of Fine

A sickout by American Airlines’ pilots that has disrupted travel for more than half a million people appeared to finally dissipate Sunday after a federal judge said he would slap the pilots’ union with a fine of about $10 million for its role in the slowdown.

“We are pleased to report that . . . hundreds of pilots have removed themselves from the sick list,” said American spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon.

She said “well under 1,000” of American’s 9,200 pilots remained on the list late Sunday, down sharply from the 2,100 to 2,400 pilots who had stayed home late last week in a dispute about how quickly American, the primary subsidiary of AMR Corp., is integrating its recent purchase of Reno Air.

Still, American was forced to cancel about 550 of its 2,200 flights Sunday and at least another 248 flights today during the Presidents Day holiday, including seven scheduled to depart Los Angeles International Airport today and 13 flights that were to arrive at LAX.

American, the nation’s second-largest airline, also warned that cancellations could climb again depending on the exact number of pilots that return today and Tuesday. American has now canceled nearly 6,000 flights since the pilots’ slowdown began Feb. 6.

Even so, “we are optimistic that we may be able to resume 100% of our schedule as early as Tuesday,” Whitemon said.

Officials of the pilots’ union, the Allied Pilots Assn., weren’t available to estimate how many pilots were coming back. But the APA issued a statement saying both sides planned to resume negotiations over the dispute today.

American’s pilots, who earn an average of $136,000 in annual salary, came under considerable pressure to end their sickout when U.S. District Judge Joe Kendall in Dallas announced the stiff fine against the union Saturday.

Acting on a request by Fort Worth-based American, Kendall penalized the APA after finding the union and two of its officers, President Rich LaVoy and Vice President Brian Mayhew, in contempt of court for not doing enough to get the pilots back to work, as Kendall had ordered last Wednesday.

Kendall said the fine amount would be determined at a hearing this Wednesday. In the meantime, he ordered the APA to set aside $10 million for a potential payment.

The union has denied wrongdoing. But after being hit with the contempt citation, the APA redoubled its plea to the pilots to get back in the air. The APA “is absolutely serious about doing all we can to comply with the judge’s order,” LaVoy said in a statement to the pilots.

That didn’t surprise airline analyst Raymond Neidl of the investment firm ING Baring Furman Selz in New York, who said the prospect of a multimillion-dollar fine would prompt the union to lean hard on its members.

“The union leadership can become quite persuasive if they want to at this point,” in good part because “where would the money come from to pay the union’s fine? From increased dues from the members,” Neidl said.

The pilots--having dramatically made their point--also might now have an incentive to strike an accord with American before Wednesday because that could persuade Kendall to reduce the fine against the union.

The slowdown not only has affected more than 500,000 American customers since it began, it’s also cost American $60 million to $90 million in lost revenue, according to estimates by American executives and analysts.

The sickout began over a dispute about how quickly American plans to integrate Reno Air and its pilots into American’s system. The union wants the Reno Air pilots to get immediate raises to American pay scales and for American pilots to immediately get promotions that will be created by the expanded routes that Reno Air provides. The airline, in turn, wants to make those changes over 12 to 18 months.

But as the job action grew, it became clear the pilots also were protesting other lingering disputes they’ve had with American. Also, the union wanted to stake its position in the Reno Air deal to set a precedent, in case American goes on to buy an even bigger airline.

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Times correspondent Stephen Gregory contributed to this report.