Challenges still remain for American Airlines in Tulsa

While most people welcomed the news of American Airline's merger with U.S. Airways, there is still a lot of work to be done and several challenges lie ahead for the Tulsa facility.

Bill Collins, vice-president of maintenance base at American Airlines, said company officials will iron out all of the details of the merger over the next six months.

Collins said the airlines will then work with the FAA to get a single operating certificate, the industry's version of a marriage license. Collins said this process could take up to 18 months.

"And at that point, we'll start to make some decisions on what's best for Tulsa, what's best for the other bases…and we'll see what exactly it is we can do in a very big way," Collins said.

Collins made the comments at a press conference featuring a packed room of area officials. The press conference was hosted by the Tulsa Regional Chamber.

While every official in attendance praised the merger, some like Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett, also acknowledged remaining challenges for the maintenance base.

"Chapter 2 is still in front of us," said Bartlett. "We still have city-owned facilities that need a lot of help. That has not gone away."

The mayor's office has not announced any plans or proposals to address the issue.

Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith said she suspects the city will put forward a package for voters to consider.

In November, voters rejected the last package sent to them, Vision2, which would have funded upgrades to the maintenance facilities.