American reacts to pilot retirements

CHICAGO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A recent rash of early pilot retirements at American Airlines has prompted the U.S. air carrier to cancel several flights and use management pilots.

The top airline in the United States lost 143 pilots to retirement this week and the mass exodus left American struggling to meet its demands nationwide, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

Friday's mass retirement marked nearly half the number of American Airlines pilots who retire in the average year.

The sudden loss of so many pilots has already led the airline to cancel 28 February flights, including lucrative overseas routes to locations such as Beijing and London.

Aviation consultant Robert Mann told the Tribune such actions were typical for a business struggling with a sudden change in its everyday operations.

"All the slack gets cut out of the system in a restructuring, so there's very limited ability to respond to anomalies," the R.W. Mann & Co. president said.