American Airlines faces strike

Most American Airline planes may be grounded by strike

Flight attendants at the world's second largest airline have voted to strike after two and a half years of negotiations failed to produce a new work contract.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which has 22,500 members at American Airlines, said pay issues had been resolved but talks stalled over retirement benefits and work rules.

Under US law the strike can only go ahead after the union is released from arbitration and has a 30-day cooling-off period.

It is not yet clear if the strike will be international or restricted to its domestic operations. The union has several options.

An APFA spokesman told BBC Online the flight attendants would like to negotiate a contract and a strike would be the last option.

Ninety-six percent of the 18 000 workers who voted approved the strike.

International impact

American Airlines' key partner in the One World alliance, British Airways, could not comment if it would be affected.

"Usually these disputes are restricted to the States but if it was an all-out strike the slack will probably be picked up by the other One World alliance members," said Chris Yates, aviation specialist from Jane's Information Group.

Passengers face chaos this spring

More talks are scheduled between the APFA, American Airlines and the US National Mediation Board in mid-March, which means the earliest a strike could happen would be in April.

The four largest US carriers - United, American Airlines, Delta and Northwest - could all be grounded over the coming months as they face overlapping strike deadlines over pay and conditions.

President George W Bush has already indicated concern about the impact this would have on the US economy.

"We will see how things go from this time forward," said a White House spokesperson when asked about the stopping the strike.

President Bush has the power to keep essential services operational and can force the flight attendants stay at work.