Cuts could include 1,400 St. Louis jobs

Cuts will include up to 1,400 jobs in St. Louis area

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- Up to 1,400 workers -- mostly former employees of Trans World Airlines -- will lose their jobs as part of a massive restructuring announced Tuesday by American Airlines.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline plans to eliminate about 7,000 jobs nationwide. The company hasn't specified where the cuts will be.

But St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said American chief executive officer Donald Carty told him that between 1,100 and 1,400 of the cuts will be in St. Louis, where Lambert Airport serves as the airline's Midwestern hub. Some administrative workers are also based here.

American spokeswoman Julia Bishop-Cross said up to 550 pilots will lose their jobs -- all of them former TWApilots based in St. Louis. When American purchased TWA last year, TWA pilots were moved to the bottom of the seniority list.

"Our business is structured on seniority," said Sam Mayer, a spokesman for Allied Pilots Association, the union for American Airlines. "Last one in, first one out."

Other specifics about the cuts won't be determined until the airline revamps its flight schedule. As part of its recovery effort, American is reducing some flights, but Slay said St. Louis flights will not be affected.