American Airlines Flight Attendants Union vurderer å saksøke Boeing - Curt Lewis

American flight attendants union changes course, considers suing Boeing


Lori Bassani, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said that the voting board has expressed interest in filing a lawsuit against Boeing.

The union which represents American Airlines flight attendants is considering suing Boeing after the union's leader said less than a week ago it wouldn't pursue litigation.

Lori Bassani, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said in a prepared statement Tuesday night that the voting board has expressed interest in filing a lawsuit against Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) as the 737 Max remains grounded.

The APFA represents approximately 28,000 American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) flight attendants. More than 6,000 American flight attendants live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

This latest statement by Bassani comes just days after she told the Dallas Business Journal on Nov. 14 the union would not pursue litigation against Boeing because "it's not our only aircraft, so our people didn't really lose wages."

The declaration was a source of discord within the union. One board member called on Bassani to resign, according to emails sent within the union's leadership ranks that were obtained by the Business Journal.

In Tuesday's statement, Bassani said other board members expressed their concerns last week after the APFA's position was compared to the TWU Local 556, which represents Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) flight attendants, which has said it will consider suing Boeing.

"Although the union negotiated pay protections in March covering flight attendants whose schedules and pay were impacted by the grounding of the Max in a Letter of Agreement with the company," Bassani said, "the grounds for a suit will be researched and determined by the APFA Board this week."

Unions representing both American and Southwest flight attendants will attend a three-day meeting with Boeing in Washington state early next month.

Boeing will give those attending the meeting an overview of how the company plans to ensure the plane's return to service. Both American and Southwest have the plane off its schedule until early March 2020.

"The meeting in early December affords us the opportunity to acquire critical information directly from the source - Boeing Executives - in a direct, open manner," said TWU Local 556 spokesperson Chad Kleibscheidel.

Kleibscheidel added Boeing has been in contact with the union before, as some executives flew to Dallas to meet with the union's executive board in August to discuss the issues surrounding the 737 Max.