[lonestar]

American, Pilots Resume Contract Talks
October 4, 2012
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American Airlines and its pilots union resumed contract talks on Wednesday, but other problems continued to beset the bankrupt carrier.

A cockpit warning light caused an American flight to return to an airport shortly after takeoff on Tuesday, while a court said a union organizing drive at the airline could go forward and flight delays brought more customer complaints.

"I will never ride on American Airlines ever again," said Tony Palm, who was stranded when a connecting flight on American from Chicago to New York's LaGuardia airport was cancelled last month.

Palm, a recruiter for a small military contractor who lives in northern Virginia, said he had to wait three hours but eventually was able to get to New York on a flight with United Airlines.

Palm's frustration was shared by a growing number of customers who have suffered as the airline's on-time performance has dropped in recent weeks.

"American has delayed close to 2 million people in the last couple of weeks, and they've cancelled flights for 150,000 people," said Blake Fleetwood, president of CookTravel, an online travel agency. "That has an effect."

Fleetwood said some passengers have asked to be booked away from American Airlines flights. It's unclear how widespread the concern is, but postings on Twitter gave some idea of the concerns.

"Every single American Airlines flight out of Las Vegas is delayed!" said one tweet. "Dear American Airlines: Thanks for changing my flight without telling me. I know you don't agree, but some of us have schedules we try to keep," said another.

"American Airlines now charging passengers a USD$35 unbolted seat fee," joked a third.

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http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1349353712.html