11.14.03 – (LAA) – Settlement Reached Presidential Grievances Filed Regarding AA Attendance Policy, Joint Scheduling Committee Reached Agreement on Scheduling Flexibilities, FAA Reauthorization Bill

Hello. Today is Friday, November 14, 2003. This is Liz Geiss, DFW InfoRep Captain, with the APFA Hotline.

APFA Vice President Jeff Bott and American Airlines have reached a settlement on three Presidential Grievances filed regarding the American Airlines Attendance Policy. The Settlement and an overview of the agreement can be found on the opening page of the APFA Web site. The first test period begins November 15, 2003, and runs through January 15, 2004. Due to the fact this program begins on Saturday, Flight Attendants are urged to access the information on the program on either the APFA or American Airlines Flight Service Web sites and become familiar with it. More information on the Attendance Policy Grievance Settlement will be included on the APFA Hotline, web site, and in future issues of Skyword.

It is important that APFA make perfectly clear that no one can or should engage in job actions, slowdowns, or similar activities of any kind during the upcoming holiday period or at any other time. Such action is unlawful and can result in disciplinary action by the Company, including discharge. The Union does not and cannot condone, support, or in any way encourage any such activity. If anyone engages in any such activity, they are putting their jobs at jeopardy, as well as harming their fellow crewmembers by causing reassignments and understaffed flights. To repeat, any such conduct would be unacceptable and unlawful and can result in extremely serious consequences. We regret having to be so blunt, but this is something as to which there should be no doubt or uncertainty.

The APFA/AAL Joint Scheduling Committee has reached agreement on scheduling flexibilities for Flight Attendants. The agreement includes the ability of Flight Attendants to drop or trade trips picked up through Optional Exchange. The committee is currently working out the details of these new enhancements, which will be implemented once programming is complete in the spring of 2004. As more details of this new agreement are finalized, will post them on the APFA Web site and future issues of Skyword.

Recently, members of the APFA leadership along with a group of Flight Attendants from around the system attended meetings with American Airlines to discuss the current job functions of Flight Service Managers. The Company is planning to change the role of the Flight Service Manager to more effectively address the goals of Flight Attendants and better support Flight Attendants in the field. As part of this evolution, the Company will be asking Flight Attendants for their input. A survey was added to the American Airlines Flight Service Web site on November 13. This survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and is totally confidential and anonymous. There will be no costs incurred by the Company as a result of conducting the survey. If you would like to weigh in on the new role of Flight Service Managers, you can access the survey by going to the Flight Service Web site and then clicking “FSM Survey” under Quicklinks on the right hand side of the home page.

In Washington this week, the FAA Reauthorization bill awaits a vote by the Senate. This bill contains provisions for Flight Attendant certification. As we have reported previously, a one word changed brought about by the lobbying efforts of Air Transport Association and Continental Airlines has put the design of security training in the hands of the individual carriers and not the Transportation Security Administration who employs law enforcement experts. In addition, hands-on self-defense training remains voluntary. Despite the efforts of the APFA, other Flight Attendant unions, and members of Congress, the bill made it through Conference Committee and passed the house with the changes forced by ATA and Continental. The APFA would like to thank Representatives Peter DeFazio, Mike Honda, Jim McGovern, James Moran, and James Oberstar for their support with this and other Flight Attendant issues.

The APFA Hotel Department is pleased to announce a change of layover hotels in Santa Domingo. The move from the current layover to our new hotel will be effective December 31, 2003. This move was necessary for a number of reasons, the most important of which is the fact the current hotel has no sprinkler system and does not meet APFA guidelines for safety. More information on the new Santa Domingo layover hotel will be included in the November/December issue of Skyword and on the Hotel page of the APFA Web site.

Additions were made to the APFA Rumor Control portion of the web site this week. Flight Attendants are encouraged to review the information contained in the “Rumor Control” section of the APFA Web site for accurate information. If you hear a rumor or some bit of information you feel needs to be addressed on the Rumor Control page, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

The Company has notified the APFA that after further investigation, it has been determined that hotel key cards are actually only encoded with the guest’s name, check-in and check-out dates. No other personal information is included on the cards themselves.

If you are a furloughed American Airlines employee and have had problems with such things as payroll, passes, or access to Company sponsored web sites, there are resources available to assist you. For general questions, furloughed employees should call Employee Assistance at 1-800-447-2000; NRSA or pass issues, call 918-254-3720; career support can be access through the Internet at www.aacareers.com; and information regarding 401K accounts can be found at www.retireonline.com or by calling J. P Morgan at 800-345-2345.

Adecco, the world’s largest staffing firm, will hold an open house in their new offices at the American Airlines Training Center located at 11495 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton, Missouri on November 17, 2003 from 1000 until 1400. Adecco has been enlisted by the Company to provide services such as job search assistance, job placement, and computer based testing to American Airlines employees who have been affected by reduction in force. Employees attending the open house should bring a copy of their resume.

The APFA will conclude its system wide “InfoRep Day in Ops” next week in LAX and DFW. As the InfoRep Captain, I have traveled to each base in order to provide information on the APFA InfoRep Program to interested Flight Attendants. The next meeting will be held in LAX Operations on Monday, November 17th from 0930-1330. DFW Terminal A Operations InfoRep Day in Ops will be held on Wednesday, November 19th beginning at 1100.

In Industry News:

United Airlines announced this week it would launch a new low-cost carrier in February 2004 named “Ted.” The new airline will be based in Denver and will compete directly with Frontier Airlines and America West on a limited number of routes.

Delta reported this week it expects a fourth-quarter loss of between $365 and $415 million dollars. The airline credits part of the expected loss to higher than expected Pilot retirements. Delta has had 620 Pilots retire in the twelve-month period ending September 2003.

Late Thursday, Delta Pilots provided airline management with a counterproposal for contract concessions. No details of the proposal were released. Delta plans to take time to review the proposal. Talks between Delta and its Pilots will continue next week.

For more industry news, please visit the News and Events page of the APFA Web site.

That is it for this edition of the APFA Hotline. For the latest information and past editions of the hotline, visit the web site.

There are 6,150 American Airlines Flight Attendants currently on furlough.