7.21.00 – (LAA) – Negotiations Update, AMR Earnings, Ghost Rides, Alitalia

Hello, this is Peter Day and this is the negotiations portion of the HotLine for the week ending Friday, July 21, 2000.

During negotiations this week, the following Articles were discussed:

• Article 7 Hours of Service
• Article 9 Scheduling
• Article 10 Reserve
• Article 11 Language
• Article 26 Sick Leave
• Article 30K Crew Meals
• Article 32 Health and Safety Committees

In Article 7, extensive discussions were held on long range flying. The primary issues that remain outstanding are the maximum on-duty periods and crew rest provisions. The membership’s strong desire for trip sequence pay protection is one of the key components of Article 9, Scheduling. Pay protection for all trips, regardless of projection, was discussed at great length. Further talks on this critical issue will be conducted during our upcoming negotiations sessions.

The Company presented a counter-proposal on Article 10, Reserve. Prior to reaching an agreement on this article, a Reserve survey will be conducted. This survey will be sent to each member as a “special mailing”. Specific details regarding this survey will be included in future HotLines and on your local APFA Bulletin Board. Our primary objective is to seek improvements to Reserve without increasing the Reserve list.

Proposals on Article 11, Language, were exchanged by both parties. The Company has cited “competitive reasons” as the need to have foreign language qualified Planed Variable Manning (PVM) positions on the Domestic bidsheet in select markets. However, we remain concerned about the potential increase for bid denials. An agreement has yet to be reached in this area.

We have agreed in concept on Article 26, Sick Leave and IOD Benefits, and expect a tentative agreement to be reached shortly. Many improvements were achieved in this area. The massive problems created by the Company’s unilateral implementation of the Attendance Control Policy are being dealt with by the Presidential grievances that have been filed.

The Company presented a counter-proposal on Crew Meals which included some improvements, but additional changes are being sought. We did sign off on Article 32, Health and Safety. Individual personal resuscitation masks will now be provided to each Flight Attendant for use during an in-flight emergency. This mask will become a part of the Flight Attendant’s required equipment; however, the absence of this required equipment will not render the Flight Attendant’s “Qualifications Inactive” or QI.

The next negotiations session will be held from August 8 through August 10 in Dallas-Ft. Worth. The topic of discussions will include Crew Rest and Scheduling, and we plan to begin discussions on economic issues as well.

Thank you for calling the Negotiations HotLine. Please stay on the line for more APFA and industry news.

Hello, this is Linda Lanning, APFA Secretary with APFA HotLine news for the week ending July 21, 2000.

APFA issued a press release yesterday which reads as follows: We are very pleased that American Airlines has reported record earnings of $285 million for the second quarter of this year. The Company’s earnings, which came to $1.75 per share, exceeded the first quarter of this year, exceeded the second quarter of last year, and out performed Wall Street’s projections.

Our contract became amendable nearly two years ago and we are currently in bargaining with American Airlines to reach a new agreement, one that rewards the Flight Attendants for their share of the success of this airline.

As we have been reporting for weeks now, AA management has once again elected to manage Flight Attendants by intimidation. Unannounced observation rides are continuing throughout the system and management is issuing discipline constantly. Flight Attendants are being severely disciplined for first time offenses with no regard to anyone’s past record be it exemplary or not. High level talks have been held between the APFA and AA to convey that this type of management by intimidation is unacceptable to the APFA and its members. The good news is that the Company seems to get the fact that a Flight Attendant’s primary responsibility is “safety”. How many years has the APFA shouted this message at the bargaining table? We believe that the Company has only started becoming concerned about safety issues on UORs because we are in negotiations. Please know that the APFA is working to protect you, but we encourage you to continue to do your job as well and as thoroughly as you have always done. Remember, we are onboard the aircraft for safety. APFA’s leadership and its membership demand that the Company abandon their “management by intimidation” techniques and take a look at the industry and the airlines that have gone from bad to best. The change is a result of motivating their people not by threatening them. AA could motivate us by negotiating a contract that more fairly reflects our enormous contributions to the successes of AA. This would help to built morale and incite a sense of trust in AA management.

This advice from the APFA Scheduling Department . . . beginning July 27th and running through July 31st , we will be in the last five days of the contractual month. Flight Attendants should review Article 9.P.6. or Appendix I, Article 9.P.6. for procedures regarding pay protection. To qualify, you must lose your last trip of the month due to cancellation or illegality, and subsequently must do no flying. An OE is not considered as a “last trip.” Should this happen to you, you must put your name on the make-up list for all days originally scheduled to fly and up through eight hours after the arrival time of the original sequence, and you must make an effort to recover the time lost via the make-up system. Otherwise, you will forfeit the cancellation pay. Your obligation will appear in a header at the top of your HI1. After the obligation window has passed, the pay will be automatic following a search for your name on the make-up list by the computer. Please call the APFA Scheduling Department at headquarters extension 8161 if you have any questions.

SFO/SFO-I will be having their Base Meeting on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:00 a.m. Please call your local base reps at HDQ, Ext. 8448 or 8468 for details on location.

In Industry news, merger mania seems to have calmed down this week. News reports indicate that AMR might be backing off of Northwest for now and United and US Airways will be tied up in technicalities for months and months.

Alitalia has denied talks with American about a potential alliance deal. Italy’s newspaper, “La Republica” reported that members of AA and Alitalia’s upper management met in Dallas for secret talks. Alitalia, however, issued in a statement that there have been NO meetings with AA. “The priority as far as choosing a new partnership is concerned is a strong link in Europe, which would then lead towards a closer collaboration with an American partner,” stated Alitalia. They are also engaged in discussions with Delta and Air France under the alliance codename “SKYTEAM”.

That’s it for this week! Wear your Union Pin proudly and contact your base Chair if you would like to become an InfoRep. Thanks for calling the APFA HotLine.