American Airlines layoffs could impact LI

American Airlines' plan to lay off 13,000 workers, or about 15 percent of its workforce, could have a significant impact locally.

American employs 3,855 people at Kennedy Airport and 3,006 at La Guardia Airport, the Texas-based carrier said. It's not known how many are from Long Island or how many will lose their jobs.

Bobby Gless, a Long Island resident and a deputy director of the Transport Workers Union, said his organization represents roughly 1,000 workers between the two airports.

"We are just in the beginning process" of learning about the layoff plans, he said. "Until we get deeply into the process and continue discussions, we won't know where the cuts will take place."

A spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said that about a third of its 1,841 members based at Kennedy live in the metro area. And a little more than a third of its 1,287 La Guardia-based members live locally.

American, which has 88,000 employees, announced its planned layoff on Wednesday as part of a bankruptcy restructuring plan.