By Sheryl Jean/ Dallas News--

American Airlines Inc. and its pilots’ union have reached an “agreement in principle,” the Allied Pilots Union announced today.

The pilots were the airline’s last group of unionized workers to not agree to a new labor contract. But last week, the union told its members — about 10,000 American pilots — that it was close to a new contract agreement with American and put the burden on management to close the remaining gap.

APA spokesman Gregg Overman said on the union’s online hotline today that its board of directors voted to present American parent AMR Corp. management with a comprehensive counter-proposal. Management agreed to the APA’s proposal.

Next, the APA board of directors will vote to send the agreement-in-principle to its membership as a tentative agreement for ratification, Overman said.

“The APA designed our comprehensive counter-proposal to provide our pilots with an industry-standard contract while enabling American Airlines to complete a successful restructuring and compete on a level playing field with its network-carrier peers,” Overman said. The next step, he said, is for the board to vote to send the agreement-in-principle to its membership as a tentative agreement for ratification.

The union said it will provide details of the agreement-in-principle to its members soon. Reporters also today were waiting for more news from APA president Keith Wilson (see photo  to the right).

In September, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane allowed American to throw out the labor contract with the APA after the pilots voted down a tentative contract agreement in August. That decision let American, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a year ago, move forward with cost-cutting efforts needed to successfully restructure the airline.