2.22.02 – (LAA) – Recall Packets Being Sent to Furloughed FAs, Overage Leaves Finalized

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA HotLine for Friday, February 22, 2002.

The company will be sending recall packets today to 413 Flight Attendants furloughed late last year in accordance with a Letter of Agreement between APFA and the Company. Flight Attendants from class 2001-10 and earlier who completed training on or before April 26, 2001 will be required to return their acceptance or rejection letters postmarked no later than March 4, 2002 and received by the company no later than March 6, 2002. Please review this packet carefully, especially the accept/reject re-employment letter and base preference form. There is a prepaid Fed Ex label included to assist all Furloughed Flight Attendants to comply with the March 6th deadline.

More details about the contents of this packet will be shared following the Overage Leave information.

Overage Leaves were finalized this week and the Company announced that 413 Leaves will be awarded system wide effective May 1 through September 30, 2002. 1915 Flight Attendants submitted proffers for the Key Block period of five months, therefore no Auxiliary Blocks were considered.

The Overage Leaves were awarded as follows:

All Flight Attendants awarded the Overage Leaves will be receiving an informational packet from the company next month. Remember that all members who are on Leave are required to pay dues. Please contact the dues department at APFA Headquarters, ext. 8151 to make payment arrangements.

Now, back to the recall. Management will hold a mandatory training class on March 18, 2002. This will be a two-day class and you will receive training pay in your April paycheck at $9.50 per hour for the two Ω-day sessions. AA will provide you with the necessary transportation to and from the Learning Center. Be sure to bring a government-issued photo ID. The training support desk will be open extensively for the period March 11-13th. All recalled Flight Attendants must call the Training Support Desk to find out base assignments, enroll in training and arrange travel for the training. The phone number is provided in the recall packet.

The 413 Flight Attendants will report to base during the week of March 25, 2002. Details on this will be provided at the refresher-training course. The following four bases will be open and awarded in seniority order according to availability and manning: BOS-D, DCA-D, LGA-D and ORD. Qualified French Speakers may be assigned to Chicago. Remember to properly fill out your base preference form contained in the recall packet.

In-flight manuals, company keys and ID’s will be provided at refresher training. Be sure to bring your complete uniform. There will be representatives at training to accept new uniform orders. You will receive 18 points to purchase new uniform items, as well. Your uniform expense balance will be reestablished upon your return as payroll deductions.

All 413 furloughed flight attendants returning to work will hold Availability for the month of April. Your awards will be posted with the regular bid run. You will not be able to bid for the month of April, as you will not be active until after bids close.

Regarding seniority, the packet you receive will contain your original date of hire, Company Seniority for purposes of vacation/retirement, Classification Seniority for purposes of pay, and Occupational Seniority for purposes of bidding. APFA has asked that the company agree to extend seniority accrual to those Flight Attendants furloughed while on probation. APFA is pleased that an agreement has been reached with the company on this issue. As a result, probationary Flight Attendants will not be docked Occupational Seniority due to the furlough.

Benefit information will be enclosed in this packet and you will be able to enroll at training. Travel privileges for those flight attendants who successfully completed six months probation prior to being furloughed, will be eligible for flight privileges on April 1, 2002. If you plan to register your spouse, domestic partner or registered companion, you must do so within seven days of your return to work through jetnet.aa.com. Those of you who did not complete your probationary period will be required to complete your remaining probationary period before travel privileges will begin.

Please refer to Article 16 in your APFA/AA contract for details on the recall process. The company has provided an e-mail address in your packet to answer your questions. Any further questions regarding your return to work will be answered at your training class on March 18.

As we await the return of our remaining 800 furloughed flight attendants, we would like you to know that Vice President of Flight Service Jane Allen has said in her hotline that she will continue to explore options for the return of even more furloughees due to the overwhelming response of Overage Leave proffers

On a safety note, American is in the final stages of researching a voluntary four-hour self-defense class to be made available to all Flight Attendants. This will be paid for by the company and will be made available at the base level. More information will be provided shortly.

That’s it for this week. Thank you for calling the APFA HotLine.