American Airlines Potential Holiday Pilot Shortage, Explained

UPDATE: American Airlines said Thursday it is fixing the problem, noting that out of about 200,000 flights scheduled for December, the airline lacks pilots for only a "few hundred of them." It said pilots are volunteering to work for extra pay, and said it expects more to agree to fly. It also said it has more reserve pilots than usual in December, and they will be assigned to fill in gaps. "We have not canceled any scheduled flights in December and will continue to work to ensure both our pilots and our customers are cared for,” American said in a statement. A couple of hours later on Thursday, the pilot union released its own statement, saying its "data does not support management’s statement regarding December flights that 'only a few hundred' are currently unassigned to pilots.” According to the union, American's system still list thousands of flights without pilots. ORIGNAL STORY: American Airlines admitted Wednesday it has a problem. By mistake, it gave too many pilots time off in December, and now it is scrambling to ensure it has enough pilots to fly during the busy holiday period. American is saying it can fix the problem by coaxing more pilots to work, and that holiday travel likely will not be affected. The airline's pilot union is more pessimistic, war