NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unionized pilots at American Airlines have rejected the carrier's final contract offer, leaving it to a judge to decide whether to grant the company's request to vacate the labor group's collective bargaining agreement in bankruptcy court.
The Allied Pilots Association said on Wednesday that its board of directors voted 11 to 5 against approving management's "final offer" for a tentative deal.
The board cited a lack of specifics "in various areas" and the need for more time to analyze contract provisions and related language, the union said in a statement.
New York bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane is expected to rule on Friday on American's motion to void the current pilot contract and impose tentative terms.
Flight attendants have also spurned management's last offer and will have their case decided by the court as well. Unionized ground workers have yet to decide whether to accept a final proposal.
American had no immediate comment on the decision by pilots.
The carrier filed for bankruptcy in November and is seeking $1.25 billion in annual labor cost savings to compete more effectively with rivals who previously restructured in court. Most of those savings will come from unionized workers.
(Reporting by Jessica Dye, Nick Brown and John Crawley; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Pullin)
