4.13.06 – (LAA) – Open Replacement, SFO Domestic Reserve Coverage for San Jose Flying, Retirement Seminars

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Thursday, April 13, 2006. There are 3,975 American Airlines Flight Attendants still on furlough and 10 members serving our country overseas. The reduced number of furloughs is due to attrition. Please keep them in your thoughts.

In APFA News: APFA has been working very hard to try to find a contractually-viable solution to the Company’s announcement earlier this year that they intend to eliminate Open Replacement and place those Flight Attendants on Reserve during the summer and holiday crunch months. APFA is confident that a resolution, completely within the confines of the Contact, is eminent. APFA is equally confident that the resolution the parties are working on has the support of both Flight Service and Crew Resources and will preserve Open Replacement jobs and NOT result in increased reserve jobs. The HotLine will be updated as soon as this agreement has been finalized.

APFA encourages our members to maintain hard copies of all documents you may need at some point in the future including, but not limited to monthly activity records (HI1’s), yearly copies of your HISK/L and pay stubs from ePays. Pay stubs and monthly activity records are available for 36 months on ePays. Currently, you can retrieve information as far back as May 2003. There have been instances where Flight Attendants have needed this documentation for audits or court cases several years after the fact. You can save time and money by routinely printing and filing these documents for your permanent record.

Please note that with reduced ground time associated with the expansion of Simplification there has been NO change to Flight Attendant cleaning procedures. The contractual language in Article 2.N., page 10, stipulates which flights we are not responsible to clean. In fact, our colleagues at TWU have requested that we respect the scope of their jobs and that we not assist them on the ground in cleaning flights that are either terminating or are through flights over 1100 miles.

APFA and American have been working on a solution for SFO Domestic Reserve coverage for San Jose flying. In summary, this test provides for more efficient coverage by allowing those that prefer to fly out of SJC to be included in a separate SJC Time-Accrued Reserve System pool until such time that they are not assigned a SJC trip. Reserves will always be eligible to fly out of SFO and OAK as well, but when a San Jose trip opens, Crew Schedule will process those F/As with an SJC preference prior to assigning those who do not have SJC as their short call preference. For a refresher on entering reserve preferences, please refer to the Reserve Preferences document on the Scheduling page at www.apfa.org.

APFA Retirement Specialist Jill Frank Smoak continues her seminars this month. On the 18th, Jill and a representative from the company will be in SFO from noon to 2:00 p.m. Please note the location change: the Flight Attendant-specific retirement seminar will be held in the Training Room on the mezzanine level next to the Credit Union at SFO Airport. On April 20, there will be two sessions in DFW, both in The Yandry Suite at DFW across from gate C2. These sessions are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Three more seminars conducted by Jill and her company counterpart are scheduled for May and are open to all Flight Attendants regardless of base. Since these sessions have been so well-attended in the past, we are requesting anyone who is interested in one of these seminars to make reservations as outlined below.

On May 8, the retirement seminar will be held at DCA Airport from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Ramp Managers Conference Room. Please call the DCA Manager On Duty at 703-419-6523 to reserve a spot.  

On May 17, there will be another seminar at St. Louis from noon to 2:00 p.m. In order to accommodate all STL FAs who are eligible for retirement, this session will be held in the Joann Wayne Room located outside of security. Again, due to the room size we are requiring reservations – please leave a VM for APFA STL Chair Greg Bertolini at 817-540-0108, ext. 8445 to reserve your spot.

The third retirement seminar will be in BOS on May 23. One session is scheduled so far unless demand warrants a second session. The seminar is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Flight Service Conference Room. To confirm your seat please contact BOS Flight Service Manager Judy Leahy at 617-634-5122.

If you plan to attend a retirement seminar please go to JETNET, and follow this path: BENEFITS, RETIREMENT PLANNING, MY PENSION, REQUEST/VIEW ESTIMATES and create then print an estimate. On the estimate page, there is a highlighted link called PLAN CALCULATION FORMULAS. Please open this link and print out this information and bring both documents with you to the seminar.  

APFA’s next Quarterly Executive Committee Meeting will begin May 16th at the Embassy Suites DFW South. All members in good standing are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Each day, the cyclists involved in the Airline Ride Across America honor one of the 33 crewmembers who lost their lives on the four flights that crashed on September 11, 2001. The ride began on April 2nd in Los Angeles, and will conclude on May 9th at the Pentagon.

Please visit airlineride.org for more information on how you can participate or donate to this cause. Proceeds will go to the three flight crew memorials being constructed in honor of the crewmembers who died.

In Rumor Control: There are rumors circulating that one or more workgroups on AA’s property are getting back some of what they gave up in ’03 during the restructuring. Aside from what was negotiated and is currently contractual for each of the labor organizations, there are no givebacks to any of the workgroups on AA’s property.

In Bankruptcy News: Delta pilots received $10 M in funding from its parent labor organization to prepare for a Strike. Last week, the pilots overwhelmingly voted for a Strike in the event that their contract is abrogated by the bankruptcy court. Delta Airlines has asked for $305 M a year in pay and benefit cuts. An arbitration panel is expected to render its decision by April 15th if no agreement is reached between the parties.

Fuel Watch: As of Tuesday, April 11th, a barrel of crude oil cost $68,98 up $1.91 from last Wednesday’s price. The crack spread price was $15.68, up $1.34 from last week’s price. This brings the cost of one barrel of jet fuel to $86 – up $3.25 from the price of jet fuel last week.

Stock Watch: For those of you considering exercising some or all of your AMR stock shares once the final 1/3 is vested on the 17th of this month, the stock price was $25.32 at close of business on Wednesday, April 12th.

APFA Headquarters will be closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday. If you have an emergency, please do not hesitate to contact the APFA Officer On Duty. Simply dial 817.540.0108 and follow the prompts for the Officer On Duty.