American Airlines Pilots Expect Contract Talks to Resume

The pilots' union at American Airlines is moving to resume stalled contract negotiations with the carrier.

The union also said Tuesday that it will delay releasing results of a strike-authorization vote scheduled to end Wednesday.

The developments could lead to a breakthrough in a bitter standoff between the nation's third-biggest airline and its 7,500 active pilots.

The pilots rejected American's last contract offer in August. In early September, a federal bankruptcy judge gave American's parent, AMR Corp., permission to throw out the pilots' contract and impose terms for pay, benefits and work rules.

Last week, American said some pilots were conducting an illegal work slowdown that was causing delayed and canceled flights, and it threatened to take the union to court. The union says there was no sickout or slowdown.

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