American Airlines has told the Federal Aviation Administration that it may train management employees to replace regular flight attendants during a strike.

"There hasn't been anything official filed other than our normal back and forth with the airline," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said Tuesday. "They said things were not progressing as they hoped, and one of the options that they were considering was training management as flight attendants."

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants was prepared to ask the National Mediation Board to declare an impasse after "lockdown" negotiations Jan. 11-21 failed to bring a new contract.

However, NMB senior mediator Zachary Jones told American and the union to return to mediated talks Feb. 27-March 3 in Washington, D.C.

Lunsford said American put 1,300 people through accelerated training prior to the APFA's Nov. 18-22, 1993, strike.

"It met all our regulatory requirements, but it lacked customer service items," such as how to serve beverages or meals, he said.

That same curriculum is still usable today, with changes as needed to bring the training up to date, Lunsford said.

We're expect comment soon from American and the union.

Under the Railway Labor Act, neither management nor a union can engage in "self-help" without the NMB's signoff. The NMB would first have to declare an impasse in the talks and proffer binding arbitration to both parties. If either side rejects, the NMB would start a 30-day cooling-off period.

During that 30 days, the NMB typically convenes the warring parties to last-minute mediation. But if the cooling-off period expires, either side can do whatever, like a lockout or imposed contract by the airline or strike or other work actions by the union.