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AMR ruling due Saturday
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February 12, 1999: 7:06 p.m. ET
Judge to decide whether union should be fined, more delays expected
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Frustrated American Airlines passengers will have to wait another day to find out if a dispute between the nation's second largest carrier and its pilots union may finally come to an end.
A federal judge in Dallas Friday said he would decide on Saturday whether to fine pilots for refusing to end a sick-out that has caused the cancellation of thousands of flights and cost the airline nearly $60 million in lost revenues.
AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, asked U.S. District Court Judge Joe Kendall to impose punitive fines against the Allied Pilots Association for flouting an order he issued on Wednesday instructing the union to tell its members to return to work.
"The union leadership is prepared to bring this airline down if they can't get their way." American attorney Dee Kelly said.
Union leaders, however, said they had told pilots of the court order and instructed them to comply.
Allied Pilots Association President Rich LaVoy told the court the union was doing all it could but that individual pilots remained angry with the airline after years of poor labor relations.
"I think our members are very upset. This thing has now got a life of its own," LaVoy told the judge.
Pilots defy back to work order
American said 2,400 of its 9,600 pilots have called in sick at one point during the past few days.
"The union leadership needs to recognize that they are not just letting down the company, but a federal judge, our customers and their fellow employees, all of whom had expectations that things would get better, not worse," the airline said.
But the union reiterated its claim that it has followed the letter of the Wednesday ruling and urged its members not to engage in any illegal job action.
"Our leadership is doing everything we can to try to get these guys back there in the cockpits," union president LaVoy said Friday outside the court. "This is their livelihood and their futures. ... They're very serious about it."
Clinton urges both sides to settle
Earlier Friday, President Clinton urged American and its pilots to resolve the dispute.
"I am concerned about the impact this labor dispute is having on our nation and the traveling public," the president said in a statement.
"With the potential for enormous disruption over the upcoming Presidents' Day holiday weekend, I urge both parties to think of the impact on the traveling public, set aside their differences, and work together to resolve the issues between them," Clinton said.
The president gave no hint in his statement that he would intervene in the dispute. In 1997, he ended a strike by the pilots under a federal law normally invoked to end rail strikes.
American canceled 1,046 more Friday flights, or more than 40 percent of its schedule, as the dispute with its pilots approached the start of its second week.
Timothy Ahern, vice president of operations for American, said the airline expects 536 flight cancellations Saturday and another 209 Sunday, failing some letup in the number of pilot sick calls, causing more airport havoc during the Presidents' Day holiday weekend.
An American executive told the court that the carrier is losing $1.2 million in gross revenue for every 100 flights canceled, and that there have been 4,902 flights canceled. At that rate, the carrier has lost nearly $60 million in gross revenue since the job action began.
Ahern said between 440,000 and 450,000 passengers had been affected by the job action.
(Click here to see a list of cancellations)
The dispute centers around American's acquisition of Reno Air late last year. The pilots worry that the airline will institute a two-tier pay scale, particularly since Reno pilots make about half what American's make. The airline says it will pay American salaries to pilots who fly Reno routes after a transition period of up to 18 months, a period the union called unacceptable.
Passengers, meanwhile expressed anger at both the airline and the union.
"It is an egregious problem that management did not anticipate this when they acquired Reno and it's equally unfortunate the pilots are disobeying a court order," said Michael Mailer, a passenger at LaGuardia Airport in New York. "What I would like to see is both management and the pilots stand in line for two days and experience what every passenger is going through right now."
Northwest to honor American tickets
One carrier, Northwest (NWAC), said late Thursday it had reached agreement to honor American tickets for canceled flights. Northwest said it "will do everything possible to assist American passengers in the event of further disruption."
Clinton praised cities, airports and other airlines for helping to alleviate some of the travel disruptions.
"However, even with all of the carriers doing their part, it is likely that thousands of passengers will be forced to change their travel plans," he said. "They are innocent bystanders in a dispute that should be set aside over the weekend and resolved at the bargaining table."
Shares of AMR (AMR), the parent company of American, were down 5/16 to 55-1/8. 
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