American Airlines faces strike threat as union negotiations falter by Reuters

(Reuters) – A union representing flight attendants at American Airlines (NASDAQ:) Group Inc on Friday told workers to prepare to strike after contract negotiations with the carrier failed to reach an agreement.

“We remain separated on the key economic aspects of the deal as well as the company’s wholly unacceptable request for scheduling concessions,” the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) said in a statement.

The APFA said it believed the National Mediation Council overseeing the negotiations would bring the parties together in a “last ditch” bid in the next two weeks.

American Airlines and NMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

US lawmakers urged NMB to take steps to help about 80,000 flight attendants reach contractual deals.

flight attendants at United Airlines, Alaska Airlines Group (NYSE:), American Airlines and Frontier are among employees at more than a dozen airlines still working to reach new contract deals.