American Airlines’ work force is said to rank among the lowest in the industry in terms of productivity and according to management estimates, the airline is at $800 million-a-year disadvantage to competitors on labor costs (See AMR Faces Union Stalemate in Bid for $800 Million Labor Savings).

While competitors have negotiated better deals with the unions through bankruptcy, American continues to honor its expensive labor agreements. The airline has been trying to negotiate new agreements with its union for years now, but the contract negotiations have stalled badly. While labor costs account for about 31% of all operating costs at American, they stand at around 22-23% for Delta and United Continental.

Stole the above from Elvis on another thread. Isn't our restoration quest, I think FTB said it's about 750m/yr, about the same as what AMR is behind in the industry? I think we are in a different place than AMR, and I don't think 800m/yr would put us at 31% labor costs. It just struck me, because this could be bad for us going forward.