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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
_____________
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of earliest event
reported: April 16, 2003
American Airlines, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 1-2691 13-1502798
(State of Incorporation) ( Commission File Number) (IRS Employer
Identification No.)
4333 Amon Carter Blvd. Fort Worth, Texas 76155
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(817) 963-1234
(Registrant's telephone number)
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Item 5. Other Events
American Airlines, Inc. (American or the Company, a wholly owned
subsidiary of AMR Corporation (AMR)) is filing herewith a press
release issued on April 16, 2003 by AMR as Exhibit 99.1 which is
included herein. This press release was issued to announce that
American's employee groups rallied to ratify ground-breaking
agreements to achieve $1.8 billion in annual employee cost
savings.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits
The following exhibits are included herein:
99.1 Press Release
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed
on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
American Airlines, Inc.
/s/ Charles D. MarLett
Charles D. MarLett
Corporate Secretary
Dated: April 17, 2003
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit Description
99.1 Press Release
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Exhibit 99.1
Contact: Corporate Communications
Fort Worth, Texas
817-967-1577
corp.comm@aa.com
FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, April 16, 2003
AMR CHAIRMAN DON CARTY COMMENDS EMPLOYEES FOR RATIFYING
CONSENSUAL AGREEMENTS TO CUT COSTS
FORT WORTH, Texas - AMR Chairman Don Carty today expressed
his gratitude to the employees of American Airlines and their
union leadership for ratifying ground-breaking agreements to
achieve $1.8 billion in annual employee cost savings.
American's unionized employee groups rallied to ratify
consensual agreements reached just two weeks ago with the Allied
Pilots Association, the Association of Professional Flight
Attendants and the Transport Workers Union.
"This development is unprecedented in the history of the
U.S. airline industry," Carty said, heralding ratification votes
to approve the restructured contracts, "and I am enormously proud
of our employees."
"These votes clearly demonstrate our employees' dedication
and commitment to creating a secure future for American Airlines
and its people," he added.
Carty also thanked union leaders for agreeing to accelerate
the ratification process from the standard 30 days to two weeks,
and credited all three unions for working together to overcome
last-minute issues with the APFA's balloting process and urging
the extension of voting for flight attendants.
"This has been a race against the clock," Carty said,
"My thanks go to the union leadership and to all our employees
who recognized the urgency of our financial crisis and rose to
meet the challenge."
Commenting on the fact that the company had made millions of
dollars in loan repayments to allow the extension, Carty said
American's employees had proved that the risk was worth taking.
"I'll bank on the employees of American Airlines any day,"
Carty said. "I believed it was important to make an investment in
the future of this company, just as our employees have made a
significant investment themselves. Today I have even more
confidence that, by continuing to work together, we can make our
investment pay off."
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Carty and AMR President and COO Gerard Arpey said
ratification of the labor agreements is a significant step toward
helping the company in its efforts to restructure costs on its
own. In addition, the company continues its work to secure
accommodations from its lenders and suppliers.
"Today was an important step in our ability to transition to
the 21st century as a new airline in a new era. With the help of
our employees " our greatest asset" we will take on the
competition, and work together to succeed," Carty and Arpey said.
But the company cautioned that even with ratification of the
agreements, American's financial condition is weak and its
prospects remain uncertain. Carty warned that the company is not
yet "out of the woods," and "that given the hostile financial
and business environment we find ourselves in and its inherent
risks the success of our efforts is not assured."
The accords with the three unions are far reaching and touch
on nearly every aspect of pay, benefits and work rules.
The company has also announced changes to pay, benefits and
work rules for all non-union employees, including agents,
representatives, planners, support staff and management.
The cost savings were divided by work group as follows:
- Pilots: $660 million
- Flight attendants: $340 million
- TWU Represented employees: $620 million
- Agents, representatives and planners: $80 million
- Management and support staff: $100 million
Carty, who said the restructuring effort is based on a model
of "shared sacrifice," took a 33 percent base pay cut, declined a
bonus for the third consecutive year, and participated in other
changes that significantly reduced the value of compensation for
senior officers.
"These are difficult times for the company and our people,"
Carty said, "Rest assured that I would not ask for these
sacrifices if I weren't convinced that they were absolutely
necessary. The company recently announced a new profit sharing
and stock option program that will allow employees to benefit
from the company's eventual recovery.
"Working together, we have made hard choices, but they are
choices that are ultimately in the best interest of American
Airlines and its employees," Carty said.
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Statements in this report contain various forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which represent the Company's
expectations or beliefs concerning future events. When used in
this document and in documents incorporated herein by reference,
the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Other forward-looking statements include statements
which do not relate solely to historical facts, such as, without
limitation, statements which discuss the possible future effects
of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that
the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be
predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements
in this report are based upon information available to the
Company on the date of this report. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number
of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from our expectations, including the uncertain financial and
business environment for the Company even with the ratification
of the labor agreements. Additional information concerning these
and other factors, is contained in the Company's Securities and
Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the
Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2002.