[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[February 14, 1997]
[Pages 159-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the Establishment of an Emergency Board in the Dispute 
Between American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association
February 14, 1997

    As you know, I have been closely following the labor negotiations 
between American Airlines and its pilots represented by the Allied 
Pilots Association. I want to compliment the parties, the National 
Mediation Board, its chairman Kenneth Hipp, and mediator Harry Bickford 
for their hard work to date. Progress has been made over the last 
several days and especially in the last few hours. Despite these good-
faith efforts, however, the parties have been unable to reach a 
tentative agreement by the 12:01 a.m. strike deadline.
    To facilitate an agreement, and because I believe that a strike 
would have an immediate and adverse impact on the traveling public, I am 
creating a Presidential emergency board to work with the parties and to 
make recommendations regarding a resolution. No strike will occur while 
the Presidential emergency board is in place.
    A strike would cause a severe disruption to both domestic and 
international air transportation. American Airlines is the Nation's 
second largest airline; it carries over 220,000 passengers every day. It 
would be extremely difficult for other carriers to fill the void. The 
Department of Transportation has estimated that approximately 43,000 
passengers per day would not be accommodated by other airlines. The 
disruption would be particularly felt in Dallas, Miami, Chicago, New 
York, and Puerto Rico where American provides a large percentage of 
existing flights. It would also affect the nations of the Caribbean, 
many of whom rely heavily on American Airlines for air service to and 
from their shores.
    In the event of a strike, most of the 90,000 American and American 
Eagle employees would be placed on leave. The majority of these 
employees are based in Texas, Illinois, New York, California, Florida, 
and Oklahoma. Many of the elected officials from the States led by 
Senators Graham and Hutchison and Representative Martin Frost and 
Governor Chiles have made clear to my administration that a strike would 
severely affect their economies.

[[Page 160]]

    American transports almost 10 percent of the Nation's air cargo. A 
strike could increase and cause delays for shippers and the U.S. Postal 
Service.
    I was also particularly concerned that a strike would be especially 
disruptive over a holiday weekend, when hundreds of thousands of 
citizens rely on our air transit system.
    This dispute needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I urge the 
parties to continue to use the National Mediation Board and the 
Presidential emergency board to redouble their efforts to reach an 
agreement. They owe that to each other and to the traveling public.

Note: The Executive order of February 15 establishing the emergency 
board is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.