Major shake-up at American Airlines as Allied Pilots Association (APA) Rep resigns

Allied Pilots Assn. (APA) president David Bates has resigned his post in the aftermath of American Airlines (AA) pilots’ rejection of a tentative labor pact he supported.

Bates, a captain with the carrier, had told the 10,000 AA pilots represented by APA that voting for a labor accord agreed to with AA management, however imperfect, was a better alternative than leaving their fate up to a US bankruptcy court.

But following Wednesday’s 61%-39% vote against the tentative agreement, the APA board requested the resignation of Bates, he told AA flight deck crew in a Thursday letter.

“Although I believe that ratifying the tentative agreement would have been the best course for our pilot group, the majority of our pilots signaled their preference for taking a different path,” he wrote. “Given these circumstances, I concluded that continuing to serve as your president was not in the interests of the pilots I have been charged with representing.”

Absent a last-minute deal that appears unlikely, a US bankruptcy judge is expected to rule to cancel the pilots’ labor contract with AA and impose new work rules Aug. 14.

(Aaron Karp - ATWOnline News)