By K. Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – American Airlines employees in St. Louis emerged from a meeting with CEO Don Carty with mixed reactions Monday. Carty told workers the company must cut up to $4-billion in costs each year, but that the company will not file for bankruptcy.
Since September 11, American has already cut about $2 billion, with some of that in the form of layoffs. TWA employees were hit especially hard when American took over TWA in early 2001. Former TWA mechanic Buddy Bortz says a year and a half ago, he held seniority over 200 people in his work group, now he's only ahead of 20 and he worries about layoffs.
American plans to furlough 90 pilots based in St. Louis in January. Also next month, the airline is expected to announce if it will furlough any more St. Louis-based flight attendants.