{"id":6310,"date":"2012-05-04T11:22:30","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T16:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=6310"},"modified":"2012-08-01T14:11:06","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T19:11:06","slug":"visualized-american-airlines-impact-on-northeastern-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/05\/04\/visualized-american-airlines-impact-on-northeastern-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualized: American Airlines\u2019 Impact on Northeastern Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Beryl Ford Collection\/Tulsa City-County Library<\/p>\n

American Airlines D-6 at the Tulsa Municipal Airport flight line in 1945.<\/p>\n<\/div>

American Airlines in February detailed a bankruptcy-restructuring plan that eliminated 2,100 jobs from its Tulsa maintenance base.<\/p>

Workers are worried about their jobs, and business leaders are concerned<\/a> layoffs could mean losing about 10 percent of the area\u2019s aerospace workforce.<\/p>

And while the bulk of the base\u2019s employees live in big-city Tulsa, the bankruptcy could have a much bigger impact on small towns, data show.<\/p>

<\/p>

American Airlines’ parent, AMR Corp., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy<\/a> protection in November 2011. The company and its unions have been battling in bankruptcy court over labor contracts, which the airline wants to terminate<\/a>.<\/p>

Meanwhile, US Airways is seeking a merger<\/a>, and is wooing American\u2019s unions with favorable labor agreements. The Transport Workers Union, which represents workers at the Tulsa Maintenance and Engineering Center, says the proposed merger would mean fewer job cuts.<\/p>

American\u2019s executives aren\u2019t interested in a merger, at least until they\u2019ve emerged from bankruptcy restructuring, and there\u2019s skepticism of US Airways\u2019 proposal materializing.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019ve seen nothing that would lead me to believe that they\u2019re going to be successful,\u201d Mike Neal, president of the Tulsa Metro Chamber, says about the proposed merger.<\/p>\n

Per-Capita Impact of American Airlines Jobs<\/h4>\n
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Graphic by Joe Wertz \/ Source: Tulsa Metro Chamber\/American Airlines<\/p>\n

This map shows the per-capita impact of American Airlines jobs in northeastern Oklahoma. Click for a larger version.<\/p>\n<\/div>

The Tulsa Maintenance and Engineering Center is the airline\u2019s largest, and has been a part of the company\u2019s operations for more than 50 years.<\/p>

The base employs about 7,000 people \u2014 mostly mechanics \u2014 and it\u2019s the largest manufacturing employer in the Tulsa region. The base is the second-largest employer in northeastern Oklahoma, Neal says.<\/p>

The most workers \u2014 about 1,800 \u2014 live in Tulsa, according to 2011 numbers the Tulsa Metro Chamber received from the airline. About as many of the airline’s workers live in Broken Arrow and Owasso, the data show.<\/p>\n

Where American Airlines’ Workers Live<\/h4>\n
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Graphic: Joe Wertz \/ Source: Tulsa Metro Chamber | American Airlines<\/p>\n

This map shows where American Airlines' workers live in northeastern Oklahoma. Click for a larger version.<\/p>\n<\/div>

But hundreds of the airline’s workers live in small towns like Inola, Oologah and Talala, where symptoms of job losses could be most-readily felt.<\/p>

In Talala, nearly one in five people work for the airline, the data show. There\u2019s not much to the town of 270 people.<\/p>

More than 50 Talala locals worked at American\u2019s Tulsa base in August 2011, data show, but Mayor Lester Orwig says it\u2019s unlikely that layoffs would have much impact on the town, which he says is basically a grocery store and gas station surrounded by a large rural mail route.<\/p>

The mayor of nearby Oologah, however, says he\u2019s worried.<\/p>\n

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Spencer Platt \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

American Airlines and American Eagle employees rally in front of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to protest against American's plans to cut jobs and labor costs while under bankruptcy court protection.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cThe American Airlines bankruptcy probably will have a big impact on us,\u201d says Jerry Holland.<\/p>

More than 8 percent of Oologah \u2014 population: 1,100 \u2014 works for the airline, data show. The town has been growing, Holland says. A new town hall, \u201chigh-tech\u201d library and senior center are in the works, and townspeople there are buzzing about the bankruptcy. Holland says his neighbor is a long-time American Airlines mechanic.<\/p>

Naturally, the workers and their families are worried about losing their jobs, Holland says. American Airlines employed about 100 people from Oologah in 2011, data show, but Holland is more worried about the type<\/em> of jobs that could be lost in the airline\u2019s bankruptcy than the total number.<\/p>

\u201cThey\u2019re high-paying jobs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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