DALLAS, April 25 (UPI) -- American Airlines' new chief executive officer pledged Friday to rebuild trust with employees and put the airline "back on top" after the last of the carrier's major unions approved concessions that the company had sought to avoid bankruptcy.
Gerard J. Arpey addressed a news conference at the Fort Worth headquarters of the world's largest airline shortly after the board of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants voted 13-5 to approve $340 million in wage and benefit concessions.
"By any measure, we have our work cut out for us," he said. "We are not out of the woods yet, but as your new CEO, I am up to the task. I will do my very best to serve this great institution and its employees, and I will always do what is right. Working with our unions and all our employees together we will put American Airlines back on top."
Unions representing the pilots, flight attendants and ground workers approved enhanced concession agreements after Don Carty, the previous AMR chairman and CEO, resigned Thursday. American sought $1.8 billion in givebacks from its 100,000 employees to avert bankruptcy.
Carty's resignation came after revelations that he failed to disclose an executive retention and pension plan to union leaders before their members approved concessions last week. Angry union leaders were planning to submit the agreements to another vote or not sign the deals.
Arpey said one of his jobs will be rebuilding trust at American.
"It will come as no surprise to anyone that there is a definite need to rebuild trust within our company, not just between unions and management but between every member of the AMR family and that starts at the top," he said.
Arpey thanked union leaders and employees for agreeing to the concessions and acknowledged "the sacrifice" that many will suffer. Employees will take pay cuts of 15 percent to 23 percent, and more than 6,000 workers will lose their jobs.
"During that transition period I would ask them to serve our customers with grace and with dignity, and we will do our best to get them back as quickly as we can," he said.
Arpey also thanked a bipartisan delegation of four North Texas congressmen who mediated negotiations between the company and unions Wednesday that led to the revised concession agreements that are shorter in length and include some other sweetners favorable to the employees.
One of the congressmen, Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the future of American, the largest employer in north Texas.
"There are still tough days ahead for American Airlines and their workers," he said. "American Airlines plays a crucial role in the economy of North Texas and the nation. I am cautiously optimistic that AMR now will be able to avoid bankruptcy."
John Ward, APFA president, said under the new agreement the contract will be amendable eight months earlier than the previous one and the union will have the right to reopen the contract in three years.
Flight attendants also obtained an enhancement allowing them to receive pay increase incentives tied to the company's performance and management's bonus structure. "This will ensure flight attendants will receive fair treatment when the company returns to financial viability," he said.
Ward said the improvements came after meetings Thursday night with Arpey.
"For the first time in a long time, flight attendants received an attentive, open ear from senior management," he said. "There was no spin, there was no dancing around the issues. Mr. Arpey has a reputation for being straight-forward and he lived up to that."
