DAVID KOENIG, SAMANTHA BOMKAMP
AP Business Writers
3:19 p.m. CDT, May 19, 2010
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines parent AMR Corp. said Wednesday that its labor costs are $600 million more than they would be under contracts at other large network carriers, a claim that was disputed by one of the airline's unions.
The company said it expects to narrow the gap as other airlines settle their open labor negotiations.
"We have the highest labor costs in the airline industry," AMR CEO Gerard Arpey said at his company's annual meeting in New York. "It is challenging to compete when there is a wide gap between the pay and benefits you provide your people versus your competitors."
