According to union representatives for American Airlines' flight attendants, the disgruntled workers cannot walk off the job due to federal regulators not allowing it due to the company's "fragile finances" and the awful state of the national economy.

Commenting on the news, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, Laura Glading said, "While American Airlines' lagging performance is not our fault, it is
clearly becoming our problem."

AA and their flight attendants have been going back and forth with labor negotiations for about three years. The two sticking points are better benefits and pay increases.

American is one of the few carriers that is still in the red and will most likely continue to dig out from being in debt for the next few years.