FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal mediator has recessed contract talks between American Airlines and the union representing its 23,000 flight attendants after discussions bogged down over raises and other economic issues.
Negotiators for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said American's comprehensive economic package proposed pay rates that were "totally unacceptable."
Federal mediator Linda Puchala recommended to the National Mediation Board on Monday in Chicago that the talks be recessed indefinitely.
Andrea Rader, an American spokeswoman, said the Fort Worth-based carrier was disappointed about the recess.
"We will meet again as soon as the mediator decides that it's appropriate," Rader told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Tuesday's editions.
American negotiators on Nov. 16 had offered the union a counterproposal containing an immediate 8 percent pay raise, followed by additional wage increases of 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent in subsequent years.
That proposal was immediately rejected by the union, which said it offered only marginally better pay boosts than those contained in a tentative agreement rejected by members in 1999 and that other components were inferior.
Contract talks have been at a stalemate for 1 1/2 years. Federal law guiding the airline industry states that workers can't strike until a federal mediator declares an impasse and a 30-day cooling-off period ends without an agreement.