American Airlines CEO agrees to meet pilots union over concerns

Feb 7 (Reuters) – American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said on Saturday he would meet with the carrier’s pilots union as soon as possible, as concerns by aviators grow over its handling of a recent storm and company financials.

Isom told Allied Pilots Association President Nick Silva in a letter that he and the U.S. carrier’s board discussed the union’s request for a meeting.

“The Board and I are aligned with you in the desire to make American the strongest airline possible in every respect,” Isom said in the letter reviewed by Reuters.

On Friday, the union representing more than 16,000 American Airlines pilots asked management to present its concerns to the carrier’s board of directors. 

The request by pilots comes as the carrier is working to convince investors it can narrow a profit gap with rivals and deliver a sustained turnaround. The carrier has also faced criticism from employees over its handling of a January storm that swept the U.S.  

“This assessment is not the result of a single interaction with management, an isolated operational disruption, or an individual earnings report; it is the result of persistent patterns of operational, cultural, and strategic shortcomings,” members of the Allied Pilots Association board of directors wrote to the carrier’s board of directors on Friday.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in MontrealEditing by Rod Nickel)