Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney continues to defend his past role at investment firm Bain Capital as a job creator rather than a job terminator despite his opponents’ allegations to the contrary.

So perhaps it’s a case of unfortunate timing that Bain’s consulting arm—where Romney also once worked—is advising a company that is looking to trim its labor costs as it reorganizes in bankruptcy.

AMR Corp.’s American Eagle regional airline subsidiary has hired Bain & Co. as its strategic consultant to assist it in “labor-cost assessment and negotiations,” court papers show. AMR, better known as the parent of American Airlines, turned to Chapter 11 last November with the goal of slashing labor costs that are significantly higher than its competitors. As the parent company, AMR employs about 88,000 people around the globe.

“American has stated in their papers that there will be layoffs,” Ray Neidl, Maxim Group’s senior aerospace and airlines analyst, told Bankruptcy Beat Tuesday. “Most of the shrinkage will be at the regional sector and low-margin leisure routes.”

For instance, The Wall Street Journal reported last month that American Eagle would return nearly two dozen aircraft and cancel several of its routes, a move “likely” resulting in layoffs of its workers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The airline has said it will furlough pilots and flight attendants as a result of these streamlined operations.

Bain, which previously worked with American Eagle between October 2010 and September 2011, would evaluate the costs of associated with the regional airline’s various worker groups, from managers to pilots and flight attendants.