6.21.02 – (LAA) – Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court on Behalf of TWA-LLC FAs Against AA, TWA LLC, and APFA

Hello. This is George Price, APFA National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA HotLine for Friday, June 21, 2002.

A lawsuit has been filed in Federal District Court on behalf of the TWA-LLC flight attendants against American Airlines, TWA LLC, and APFA seeking to set aside the American/APFA Seniority Integration Agreement. APFA believes the lawsuit is entirely without merit and intends to fully and vigorously contest the claims.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution by unanimous consent honoring all Flight Attendants for their heroism and courage displayed on a daily basis. The resolution specifically mentions the 25 Flight Attendants who died on September 11, 2001. The resolution is posted on the web site under “Hot Topics/Links.”

On Wednesday, the House Aviation Subcommittee amended and voted on a bill allowing a limited number of Pilots to carry guns in the cockpit. This bill would create a test program for a period of two years during which no more than 1,400 Pilots or 2% of the Pilots’ workforce on U.S. airlines would be permitted to carry guns. The Pilots involved in this test would be required to go through a law-enforcement-style training course. The bill also included mandatory self-defense training for Flight Attendants, but did not included the 2-way instant communication system between Flight Attendants and the cockpit or the study of non-lethal weapons for Flight Attendants that the Senate version of the bill contains. The full House Aviation Committee will take up the bill next week. APFA does not endorse the idea of guns in the cockpit. However, we are committed to those provisions on these bills that will provide Flight Attendants with the necessary training and tools needed to ensure the safety of their passengers and themselves.

Language proficiency testing will begin in July for those Flight Attendants who qualified in French, Japanese, and Portuguese prior to 2002. Flight Attendants who received their initial language qualification in 2002 will not be tested until 2004. Testing dates and times are published on the bidsheet header pages.

Future testing will be conducted every 2, 4, or 10 years based on your level of proficiency. Flight Attendants who achieve a “superior” rating will be exempt from further testing.

The voluntary self-enrollment period is Tuesday, June 25th and Wednesday, June 26th. You may self-enroll by calling the Training Support Desk. If you do not self-enroll during the designated period, you may be assigned to a language proficiency test slot in reverse order of seniority. Changes to testing dates must be made 3 business days prior to the original scheduled test time.

Please refer to Article 11.F. and Appendix I, Article 11.E., for additional information regarding language proficiency testing.

Earlier this week, an HI6 message was sent to all Flight Attendants regarding the change to the HI8 seniority display in DECS. Effective Wednesday, June 19th, the term “annual seniority number” was changed to “system seniority number.” This is a change in terminology only. This change is being made in preparation for implementing the combined seniority list as set forth in the APFA-AA Agreement on Seniority Integration and Related Matters. A copy of this agreement may be obtained by clicking on the TWA-LLC link on the APFA website at www.www.apfa.org.

From the APFA Hotel Department comes this reminder: The number of unpaid incidental charges at our layover hotels has increased. Please be aware of your responsibility to pay these charges. Paying for your incidentals helps to ensure that quality hotels continue to want our business. The Hotel Department would also like to inform our members that the company has made no decision on the New York long layover hotel.

APFA ISL Chairperson Susan Lantz has appointed Jon Howard as her new Vice Chair. Their contact information can be found on the APFA Web site under the “Base Page” icon. We encourage our STL and ISL members to become APFA InfoReps. If you are a member in good standing and wish to be a part of the program, please contact your respective APFA Base Chair to join.

From the Safety Department comes this reminder: The Transportation Security Administration has issued guidance stating that American Airlines is responsible for choosing passengers to meet continuous search requirements while performing gate screening. American has made the choice to utilize the EGR Operator as the person responsible for this task. The EGR operator is responsible when a screener returns someone for boarding to inform the next passenger in line to proceed to the screening area.

The STL and ISL Base Representatives would like to remind all Flight Attendants they represent to contact them prior to scheduling an attendance review or meeting with their service manager. This will allow your Representatives time to arrange their schedule in order to attend the meeting with you.

APFA reminds all TWA LLC Flight Attendants that they should send their completed Membership Application/Dues Check-off Authorization Cards directly to the APFA and not to the American Airlines Payroll Department. The information provided on these cards must be processed by the APFA first prior to being forwarded to American’s Payroll Department.

Attention STL and ISL Flight Attendants: The APFA computer system encountered a glitch on Thursday, June 20, 2002, which caused STL and ISL Flight Attendants to be unable to access the “Members Only Section” of the APFA Web site. This problem has been corrected.

If you are an STL or ISL Flight Attendant and are having problems accessing the APFA Web site, here are a couple of things to remember. First, in order to gain access to the “members only” section of the web site, you must have already completed a Membership Application/Dues Check-off Authorization Card. The information from this card, including your Social Security Number, must be entered into the APFA Membership Files. Once this has been done, you must then register your e-mail address on the web site. This is done by accessing the web site at www.www.apfa.org then clicking the “Members Only” icon. When the page appears, you will then click the “Member Registration” option and follow the directions. You must complete the entire form. Once you have completed this form, you will be sent an e-mail from the administrator. You will need to respond to this e-mail. By doing so, you will have access to all sections of the APFA web site. If you continue to have questions, please contact the APFA Membership Department at [email protected] to ensure your personal information has been entered into the APFA Membership files and is complete.

On Saturday, June 15, 2002, APFA President John Ward presented Resolution #9 of the APFA Executive Committee to members of the160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) at a meeting at the American Airlines Learning Center. The resolution honored members of the 160th for flying Flight Attendant Sara Low’s flight wings on several missions over Afghanistan. Sara died aboard Flight 11 on September 11, 2001.

The updated Contract Implementation Schedule has been posted on the APFA Web site. Of particular importance this month is the implementation of Diversion Pay commonly referred to as “Hostage Pay.” American Airlines is responsible for distribution of the new Contract Book. Please check with your base’s M.O.D. for a copy if there is not one in your Flight Attendant mailbox.

The 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held in Dallas in January 2003. The event will need many volunteers beginning January 9th through January 20th. If you are interested in volunteering, please access the information on the APFA Web site. Volunteer applications are also available in Flight Service Operations in DFW.

That is it for this week. For the latest information, please access the APFA Web site at www.www.apfa.org. Until next week, stay vigilant.