American Airlines to close St. Louis pilot base

American Airlines plans to close its St. Louis pilot base in 2018, as it retires its remaining MD-80 fleet. In a letter sent to pilots, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based carrier said it has made the “difficult” decision to close the St. Louis base in September 2018. The 180 St. Louis pilots will not lose their jobs, but will be reassigned to other bases, spokesman Matt Miller said. The existing flight-attendant base, line-maintenance facility and customer-service positions at the ...