An American Airlines merger with US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) may not occur during the AMR Corp. (AAMRQ) unit’s bankruptcy unless pilot groups from the carriers agree on interim contract terms, American’s pilot union said.
If an accord isn’t reached “in the very near future, in all likelihood there will be no merger before American Airlines exits restructuring,” Keith Wilson, president of the Allied Pilots Association, said in a message on the union’s website.
The agreement would set wages, working conditions and terms to protect seniority until a joint contract for pilots at Fort Worth, Texas-based American and their counterparts at the US Airline Pilots Association is negotiated, he said.
The pilot groups, joined by executives from both carriers, began negotiating the accord earlier this month. American, which filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 29, 2011, has said it prefers to assess mergers after leaving court protection. US Airways, based in Tempe, Arizona, has been pushing for a tie-up since January.
“We don’t have the ability to stop the clock and make everyone else wait while we sort through all of the issues associated with an integrated seniority list,” Wilson told members, saying those details must wait until after a merger occurs.