DALLAS (AP) — The parent of American Airlines wants to eliminate about 13000 jobs — 15 percent of its workforce — as the nation’s third-biggest airline remakes itself under bankruptcy protection. The company proposes to end its traditional pension plans, a move strongly opposed by the airline’s unions and the US pension-insurance agency, and to stop paying for retiree health benefits. AMR Corp. said Wednesday that it must cut labor costs by 20 percent. It will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions, but the president of the flight attendants’ union quickly rejected the company’s ideas as unacceptably harsh. CEO Thomas W. Horton said Wednesday that the company hopes to return to profitability by cutting spending by more than billion per year and raising revenue by billion per year. AMR lost 4 million in the first nine months of 2011, and 4 million for December alone. It has lost more than billion since 2001. “We are going to use the restructuring process to make the necessary changes to meet our challenges head-on and capitalize fully on the solid foundation we’ve put in place,” Horton said in a letter to employees. AMR’s 88000 employees have braced for bad news for weeks. AMR, American and short-haul affiliate American Eagle filed for bankruptcy protection in November. Horton said in December that the company would emerge from bankruptcy with fewer workers. Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said …
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