4.20.01 – (LAA) – NMB Notifies APFA and AA that Mediated Contract Negotiations will Continue, Strike Preparedness Committee Meets, AMFA Reaches Tentative Agreement

Special HotLine Update

Thursday, April 26, 2001

This is APFA President John Ward with a Negotiations Hotline Update. Today is Thursday, April 26.

The National Mediation Board has notified both the APFA and American Airlines that mediated contract negotiations will continue on May 3rd and 4th in Washington, D.C.

The APFA remains committed to continuing our efforts to do everything reasonably possible and appropriate to reach an acceptable Agreement. We hope that the Company is finally willing to substitute action at the table for rhetoric and to make the moves that are needed *which should have been made months ago* to produce an Agreement that meets your legitimate needs and expectations.

Thank you for your continued patience, trust, and support. This HotLine will be updated as events warrant. Thank you for calling.

Hello, this is Ray Baylis Chicago based Flight Attendant and member of the APFA Negotiating Committee, and this is the negotiations portion of the hotline for Friday, April 20, 2001.

The Negotiating Team met in Dallas-Fort Worth this week with the Strike Preparedness Committee to further develop our strategy in preparation for our next round of talks. Membership action events were planned for the month of May, and will be announced in a future hotline. Your continued support and participation is essential.

Continued labor disputes at Delta and Comair have prolonged our return to the bargaining table. ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association), the union representing Delta’s pilots, resumed negotiations with management at Delta earlier this week. Delta pilots will be free to engage in a strike if an agreement is not reached by 0001, April 29th. The strike at Comair, Delta’s regional carrier, entered its fourth week. Comair management claimed that its proposed settlement offer provided pay raises of more than 40%. ALPA disputed those numbers, retorting that management’s pay proposal equated to roughly a 20% increase in wages over a five-year period. American Airlines management issued a similar claim of having proposed an “industry leading” contract in their comprehensive counter-proposal dated November 16th. We soon discovered that their proposal was equivalent to less than 1% above the rejected Tentative Agreement over a five-year period; decreased E-time to 1 for 2; and contained numerous other concessionary changes. The Comair pilots have a fact sheet entitled “Setting the Record Straight” which can be viewed by clicking onto their website at www.alpa.org. The National Mediation Board has not yet announced the date on which our mediated talks will resume; however depending on what happens at Delta, talks may reconvene early next month. We remain committed to delivering a negotiated settlement commensurate with the duties and responsibilities of our professional workforce. Thank you for calling the negotiations hotline. Now, please stay on the line for more APFA and industry news.

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with APFA HotLine News for the week ending April 20th, 2001.

AMR posted 1st Quarter earnings this week and Carty cited, “the bad US Economy” and weather as the primary reasons for a $43M dollar net loss. Other airlines posted much larger losses. Delta lost $122M dollars, Northwest lost $123M dollars, US Airways lost $178M dollars and United lost $313M dollars. Alaska and America West also posted losses for the 1st quarter leaving only Continental and Southwest Airlines showing profits even though Southwest labor costs were up by 17.3%. Aren’t the two 1st quarter profitable airlines also the two most labor friendly airlines in the country?

United is hitting one roadblock after another with the potential United/US Airways merge. It appears they will be missing their next target date – for the 4th time – for completing the acquisition of US Airways which is a tell-tale sign that this deal could be in serious trouble.

In airline labor news, Northwest and their Mechanics, represented by AMFA, reached a tentative agreement just two days before the Presidential Emergency Board was about to issue a non-binding recommendation for a settlement between the two parties. Their key issues were compensation, back pay and retirement. The T/A is subject to member ratification. Delta’s pilots who are in a 30-day cooling off period are back at the table and looking at an April 29th strike date if talks don’t go well. Comair’s pilots are still on strike and back at the negotiating table and United’s ramp and passenger service workers, represented by IAM, are in mediation and at the table in Chicago. United’s mechanics also represented by IAM are looking forward to their next, as of yet, unscheduled mediated session.

That’s it for this week, be sure to wear only your Union Pin, Wings and Nametag on your uniform and don’t forget to wear your Union Pin at all Company training events. Thank you for calling the APFA HotLine.