Tuesday, March 18, 1997

President extends deadline in American dispute with pilots

By KATIE FAIRBANK AP Business Writer

DALLAS (AP) - President Clinton pushed back a deadline Monday for recommendations in the contract dispute between American Airlines and its pilots because of the possibility of an agreement.

Clinton extended until Wednesday the deadline for a mediator's report on the labor dispute, hoping the extra time would lead to a resolution of the protracted dispute.

A presidential emergency board, which had been scheduled to submit its recommendations for a settlement on Monday, told Clinton the extension would "increase the likelihood of a successful outcome" in the talks between the airline and the Allied Pilots Association, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said.

McCurry and the company declined to say how the discussions were going, but some pilots viewed the delay as good news.

"It was our understanding that if there was progress being made, the PEB would delay its report," said pilot spokesman Tom Kachmar. "Any time the parties can get together to negotiate - we view that as a good thing."

Minutes into the pilots' strike in February, Clinton ordered a 60-day cooling-off period and formed the emergency board to develop a proposed settlement.

After Monday's extension of the deadline for the mediator's report, the union announced a postponement in its April 16 strike deadline. Pushing the clock back 12 days, the union agreed not to strike and the airline agreed not to lock out the pilots before April 28.

McCurry said that decision means the parties "are setting a timetable for themselves that might be a very useful and amicable resolution of the dispute."

Board chairman Robert O. Harris has said he would prefer to continue mediating a possible settlement before submitting recommendations to the president. Talks are under way at Orcas Island, about 85 miles north of Seattle.

The two parties are trying to agree on issues that have remained unsettled in nearly three years of negotiations.

The pilots rejected a tentative agreement in January.

Wage compensation is one area under dispute, while the hurdle seems to be who will fly regional jets. The union wants American pilots, who make an average of $120,000 a year, to be guaranteed the flying jobs. The company wants its commuter pilots, who earn an average $35,000 a year, to fly the smaller jets.