3.02.05

Hello. This is Denise Pointer with an InfoRep Hotline message for Wednesday, March 2, 2005.

APFA’s 12th Annual convention is less than two weeks away. If you have made plans to attend any of the training seminars, the schedule is as follows:

Retirement – 9:00 to 10:30 AM or 1:00 to 2:30 PM APFA’s Retirement Specialist Jill Frank, IMA, will host the APFA Retirement Workshop. Please come prepared with your Retirement Made Easy booklet found in the 3Q Skyword and have your JetNet password handy.

Scheduling/Contract – 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM or 2:45 to 4:15 PM APFA National Contract Coordinator Brent Peterson and APFA Scheduling Coordinator Jaimie McNeice will conduct the Scheduling and Contract Seminars. Please bring your On-Duty Contract Guide from the 4Q Skyword for the training.

Legislative Action – 12:30 to 1:00 PM or 4:15 to 4:45 PM APFA’s Lobbyist on the Hill Joan Wages and Legislative Committee Member and IMA Vice Chair Rick Musica will host the Legislative Action seminars. We urge you to attend one of these presentations to learn more about the issues facing APFA members in Congress and to learn tips on how to lobby effectively. Joan and Rick will also be available throughout the day to answer your questions.

In addition to the above-listed training seminars on the 14th, representatives will be available throughout the day to answer questions and distribute information. Departments representing APFA will be Archives, Communications, (including InfoReps), Safety, Health and the Hotel department.

The sale of the Park Central Hotel in New York closed on January 1, 2005. New owners have now taken over the hotel. Park Central’s new management notified AA of a drastic rate increase thus making it financially unfeasible for crews to remain at this hotel. Simply put, the Park Central does not want any crew business. Negotiations with the Park Central to remain at their hotel have been unproductive. The new management team has decided to turn this hotel into an upscale boutique type property and capitalize financially on their location. I want to stress to all of you that this was a decision made by the Park Central, not AA. APFA and AA have just recently returned from New York where they have been looking for a replacement hotel. AA submitted Requests for Proposals to hundreds of hotels in the New York City area and only a very small number of hotels responded to the request. Many of the hotels that responded were not in Manhattan. A long layover hotel not located in Manhattan is unacceptable to APFA. So, having said all that, our choices in New York were not good. We could approve a hotel in Manhattan, or we could move to a Marriott in Uniondale. The only acceptable hotel in Manhattan was the good old Milford Plaza. The Milford has been renovated. Again, our choices were between Times Square or Uniondale. APFA went with a request for Times Square. No contract has been reached yet. In the meantime, APFA has been notified that the Park Central has been in an over sale situation a few times recently. That has caused some crews to be relocated to the Marriott in Uniondale. This is a beautiful property; please keep in mind that these relocations are temporary. This is happening as the hotel industry is seeing record-high occupancy rates as business and corporate travel rebounds at record levels. Sure glad someone’s making money off travelers. Rest assured the APFA Hotel Department is working hard on all our layover cities. As this process continues, I will send out InfoRep email blasts to keep you notified of what is happening so that you can address rumors in the field.

The TSA has just released more dates and locations for the Advanced Crew Member Self Defense Training (CMSDT) program. The course is being offered in DCA, PHL, ATL, MIA, ORD, DFW, DEN, PHX, LAX and SFO. If you are interested in attending this voluntary course, more information is located on the APFA Safety Department’s web page. Flight Attendants that have attended this training have stated that it is extremely beneficial. We will continue to update this information as more cities are added. Don’t forget that primary vacation bidding period will close at 0800 Central Standard Time on March 7. Results will be posted by 1700 on March 14. The Secondary vacation bidding period will open on March 15 and close at 0800 Central Standard Time on March 23. Information regarding vacation accrual can be found in the On-Duty Contract Guide on page 32.

The company’s deadline for receipt of dependent verification documentation is April 8, 2005. This is a requirement of all AMR employees with dependents. You may call 800-288-0985 if you have questions regarding the verification process.

This week, American filed its 2004 annual report with the SEC. If any of you would like to read the Annual Report, it will be posted on AA.com. You can also access it on www.sec.gov and select the Filings and Forms link. New to this year’s report are required reports by management and Ernst & Young, AA’s auditors, on the company’s internal controls.

I have not received any emails this week regarding rumors so I guess things are quiet for the time being!

Also, remember you can access base election results at www.www.apfa.org.

Remember, the only job of an InfoRep is to disseminate accurate information. Please email me your questions and forward those rumors!

Denise Pointer, DFW InfoRep
InfoRep Program
1004 W. Euless Boulevard
Euless, TX 76040
817-540-0108 Ext. 8743
[email protected]