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AMR, the parent company for American Airlines filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, despite a history of paying massive bonuses to top executives. Most talk about the filing has centered around the idea that it was done in order to bring down labor costs. In other words, it would seem, the company is looking to get out of its collective bargaining agreement with workers in order to cut jobs, salaries and benefits.

While American has some financial troubles, the idea that workers are primarily responsible for it doesn't pass basic scrutiny. Flight attendants protested against American earlier this year in response to the big bonuses given to top executives despite the company having troubles and while workers earned less than $40,000 a year on average while working schedules of over 70 hours a week:

The top five execs have reaped $100 million in bonuses since 2005, while the carrier lost more than $4.2 billion. In 2003, the flight attendants agreed to cuts in pay and benefits worth $340 million annually, which they say kept American out of bankruptcy.

The filing was surprising to some, considering that several of the unions covering American workers had recently reached tentative agreements on moving forward:

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, TWU had just reached tentative agreements with American for new contracts in some of its bargaining units that were awaiting ratification by members. Other union members at American were still working without a contract extension agreement four or more years since expiration. Although TWU has been preparing for the possibility of bankruptcy for two years, Little says management never indicated during negotiations that it could be imminent. “We didn’t get any advance notice, except perhaps five minutes before the media knew about it.” Little suggested that the board of parent company AMR may have made the bankruptcy decision against the recommendation of CEO Gerald Arpey, whose retirement AMR also announced on Tuesday.

Transport Workers Union President James C. Little's reaction: