In April 2003 , in the long wake of the September 11 attacks and facing an industry beset by terrorism and hard times , Carty and his executive board were forced to strike a cost-cutting deal with American 's labor unions , intended to mitigate AMR 's upcoming $ 1 billion first-quarter loss . The deal — the largest corporate restructuring outside of bankruptcy in American history — almost unraveled several days later , when unions learned that AMR executives were keeping $ 41 million in retention bonuses . Although many other airlines had similar retention bonus arrangements , several AMR board members — most notably University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren — called for Carty 's resignation
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Donald J. Carty