FORT WORTH, Texas -- American Airlines issued the following statement today following U.S. District Court Judge Joe Kendall’s ruling that held the Allied Pilots Association in contempt of court: "While we are pleased Judge Kendall’s ruling enforces the law, we take no great satisfaction in having to be in court in the first place. We are very proud of AA pilots. We train them to be the best and they are the best.

It is disappointing to us and to many others that their union leadership first engaged in an illegal job action, and then defied the judge’s order to halt and return to work. "Regrettably, this illegal job action left American with no options other than canceling thousands of flights with little or no notice, which caused great hardship to tens of thousands of travelers and caused untold damages to our customers and the communities we serve. "We hope to regain public confidence in our airline. But before we can do that, we need to restore our operations and take care of our passengers. "We are prepared to get back to the negotiating table this weekend and we believe we can promptly resolve the matters that led to this disruption."