STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A new contract at American is at the top of NPR's business news.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Flight attendants at American Airlines ratified a new contract offer from the airline. American is currently seeking to cut costs in bankruptcy protection, so the flight attendants' union pushed hard for this vote - warning that rejecting the contracts could mean even deeper cuts or furloughs. The company's trying to cut about a billion dollars in labor costs. Mechanics and other union workers had previously accepted new contracts but pilots rejected American's latest offer earlier this month.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Now the airline's future is considered uncertain as it works through restructuring. With its contract ratification though, the flight attendants' union is reaffirming its support for a merger between American and US Airways.
American is currently seeking to cut costs in bankruptcy protection so the flight attendants' union pushed hard for this vote — warning that rejecting the contract could mean even deeper cuts or furloughs. The company's trying to cut about a billion dollars in labor costs. Mechanics and other union workers had previously accepted new contracts but pilots rejected American's latest offer earlier this month.