American Airlines, operating under bankruptcy protection, was holding talks with union representatives Wednesday amid speculation that massive job cuts are in the pipeline.
An American Airlines spokesman told AFP that talks with all three of the airline's unions were underway, to be followed in the afternoon with one-on-one talks.
"We have reviewed every aspect of our business and it's clear we have to be a more nimble, flexible and efficient airline in order to compete successfully and be consistently profitable," airline spokesman Bruce Hicks said in an email responding to an AFP query.
"Before discussing publicly any of our proposed changes, we will first meet with the leaders of the unions representing our employees."
Hicks said that American Airlines, one of the leading U.S. carriers, expects to issue statements following the group meeting and the individual meetings.
According to U.S. media reports, American would cut between 10,000 to 15,000 jobs as parent AMR Corp. reorganizes in a bid to regain solvency.
AMR, which operates American Airlines and American Eagle and employs nearly 88,500 employees worldwide, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 29.
The status allows Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR to slash its debt burden and restructure operations, with more legal flexibility to renegotiate or cancel service and wage contracts.
American Airlines, which serves some 250 cities in over 40 countries, has insisted it will continue normal business operations.
AMR reported a huge net loss of $904 million just in the month of December alone in a filing late Tuesday to the bankruptcy court handling its case.
The enormous December hole was more than the combined $884 million in losses AMR had between January and September of last year.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012
