Flyers should avoid booking American Airlines this fall because its operations are “in shambles,” wrote Scott McCartney in his Middle Seat Terminal blog on the Wall Street Journal’s website.

McCartney reported that pilots are calling in sick and using go-slow tactics.

“The carrier, reorganizing in bankruptcy court, has begun implementing cuts in pay, benefits and time off and outsourcing more flying to regional airlines. Pilots at American are doing what they (and pilots at other airlines) have done before — reacting angrily and hurting passengers. Pilots are calling in sick, moving airplanes slowly and grounding flights for broken parts that wouldn’t normally delay a flight. The pilots’ union denies any orchestrated action and blames management for operational problems,” wrote McCartney.

The results? On Sunday, only 48% of American flights arrived on time, and 25.6% were at least 45 minutes late, according to FlightStats.com. American canceled 92 flights on Sunday, or 5% of its schedule.

McCartney said Monday’s performance was even worse: 39% of flights arrived on time, and 25.6% were at least 45 minutes late.

— Jerry Limone