American pilots to protest at Logan, Fidelity
Hundreds of American Airlines Inc. pilots plan to protest tomorrow at key airports and some of the carrier's largest corporate clients' headquarters in nine cities nationwide -- including in Boston at Logan International Airport and Fidelity Investments Inc. -- to call attention to American's poor performance.
The pilots' union, which said it started planning the demonstration in February, will post 30 to 50 pilots at each location between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Pilots, who are in the midst of contract negotiations, will pass out leaflets urging inconvenienced passengers to share their travel woes at a newly launched website, tellyouraastory.com. They said the protest will not disrupt scheduled flights.
The Allied Pilots Association, the union representing American's 12,000 pilots, said its campaign is not tied to contract negotiations nor is it a response to American's cancellation last week of more than 3,000 flights due to aircraft safety inspections. But the union said last week's upheaval, which stranded more than a quarter-million passengers, punctuates ongoing management problems at the world's largest airline. Last year, American was ranked worst among network carriers for on-time performance.
An airline spokesman was unavailable to immediately comment.
The protests are scheduled to take place in Boston, New York, Dallas, St. Louis, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., a day before American announces its quarterly earnings.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)
