03.05.05

Good evening, today is Friday, March 4th, and this is Greg Hildreth, APFA Secretary, with the APFA Hotline.

The ballot count for Base Chairs and Vice Chairs took place earlier this week and the results will follow on this hotline. They can also be found on APFA’s website at www.www.apfa.org.

The Chairs will assume office beginning April 1st for a two-year term. To all of the newly elected leaders of the APFA, I along with Tommie, Brett and Cathy welcome you to the Board of Directors and look forward to seeing you at the Convention later this month.

Speaking of the Convention, on March 14th, the 12th annual APFA Convention will begin in Chicago. This year we are pleased to offer you contract/scheduling training and a legislative and retirement seminar. The training will be held on March 14 and if you are interested in attending you can go to www.apfa.org for more information. If you are interested in attending, please contact APFA at extension 8100.

The Spring 2005 Skyword is in the process of being printed as we speak and will be in your mailboxes shortly. Please take the time to read about the State of Your Union.

Now, please stay on the line for the rest of the Hotline. Leslie…

Thanks Greg… this is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator with the rest of the APFA Hotline.

Please remember we have 4,240 furloughed flight attendants that includes retirements and other attrition adjustments, and 12 flight attendants still serving in the military full time. The lower number of full-time military flight attendants takes into account those who have returned from active duty.

The base elections results are final and we would like to thank the APFA National Ballot Committee for a professional and efficient job on the running of the election. The results have been certified by APFA’s outside accounting firm, Whitley Penn and are as follows:

At BOS-I for Chairperson, Patty Moore received 135 votes and Eugenio Vargas received 108 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Hilda Hernandez-Geraigery received 130 votes and Martin Nowicke received 111 votes. Patty Moore and Hilda Hernandez -Geraigery are the new BOS-I Chair and Vice Chair.

At DFW for Chairperson, Linda Luebs received 145 votes, Samuel Morales received 147 votes and Chris O’Kelley received 848 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Anna Johnson received 191 votes and Margaret Stewart received 936 votes. Chris O’Kelley and Margaret Stewart remain the DFW Chair and Vice Chair.

At IDF for Chairperson, Colleen Brenner received 506 votes, Martha O’Rourke received 159 votes and John Reinmiller received 100 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Bobby Bulham received 194 votes and Judy Milne Masterson received 551votes. Colleen Brenner and Judy Milne Masterson are the newly elected IDF Chair and Vice Chair.

At IMA for Vice Chairperson, Juan Barrera received 398 votes and Rick Musica received 349 votes. Juan Barrera is the newly elected IMA Vice Chair.

At JFK for Chairperson, Suzanne Edwards received 427 votes and Neil Fernandez received 425 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Maurilio Ruiz received 330 votes and Jessica Washington received 509 votes. Suzannne Edwards and Jessica Washington are the newly elected JFK Chair and Vice Chair.

At LAX-I for Chairperson, Clinton Breen received 211 votes, Kathleen Olson received 91 votes and Marc Timoteo received 46 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Bruce Clark received 78 votes and David Ransom received 262 votes. Clinton Breen and David Ransom are the new LAX-I Chair and Vice Chair.

At MIA for Chairperson, Catt Napper received 230 votes and Cheri Washbish received 286 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Janice Dougherty received 243 votes and Jeff Pharr received 275 votes. Cheri Washbish remains the MIA Chair and Jeff Pharr is the newly elected MIA Vice Chair.

At ORD for Chairperson, Ray Baylis received 343 votes and Liz Mallon received 480 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Geri Coleman-Foley received 443 votes and Debbie Robinson received 377 votes. Liz Mallon remains the ORD Chair and Geri Coleman-Foley is the newly elected ORD Vice Chair.

At SFO for Chairperson, Patty Bias received 102 votes and Dana Davis received 342 votes. For Vice Chairperson, Anthony Cataldo received 326 votes and Mike Middleton received 117 votes. Dana Davis and Anthony Cataldo are the newly elected SFO Chair and Vice Chair.

At STL for Chairperson, Greg Bertolini received 864 votes, Danny Cabrera received 130 votes, Dixie Daniels received 628 votes and Maggie Joyce received 88 votes. Greg Bertolini is the newly elected STL Chair.

Thanks to everyone who stepped forward and became a part of the process. Two-year terms begin April 1st, 2005. APFA would like to extend a special thanks to all of the outgoing reps that have given of their time to make APFA a stronger organization.

The last of President Hutto-Blake’s base visits will be in Washington, D.C., on March 7th and 8th. Tommie will be in the Operations area of DCA on March 7th from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. Tommie will be in Ops at Dulles on March 8th from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Please take the time to stop by on one of these days and talk with Tommie one on one.

From the Safety Department:The TSA has confirmed that all types of lighters will be prohibited in sterile areas of airports and onboard aircraft. The TSA will begin fully enforcing this policy on April 14th. An aggressive public awareness campaign will be employed by the TSA to educate travelers about the new regulation. The TSA is still considering adding matches to the prohibited items list. The Safety Dept page of the APFA website has a link to the TSA website or you may go to www.tsa.gov. A complete list of items prohibited by the TSA can be found under *travel tips*. Select “A Must Read for Air Travelers” and click on the link to *Permitted and Prohibited Items*.

From the Contract Department: please note that the Company’s deadline for receipt of dependent verification documentation is April 8, 2005. You may call 800-288-0985 if you have questions regarding the verification process.

As a reminder, the primary vacation bidding period will close at 0800 CST on Monday, 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 CST on March 23. Information regarding vacation accrual can be found in the On-Duty Contract Guide, page 32.

Flight Attendants now have online access to information regarding their duty free commissions. The website is www.retailtravel.com . Click the online commission link on the left hand side of the page. Use your six-digit employee number as your crew ID. The password is your date of birth using the two digit numbers for your month, date and year of birth. You can then select the commission period you wish to view. You may also send an email to [email protected] for further information or clarification.

From the Hotel Department, due to a recent incident on a layover, if you need to use your credit card to cover room service or other incidentals please take your card to the front desk rather than offering the information over the phone. It is also a good idea to request a note from the Hotel’s Front Desk that includes their name, signature and the time of day you left your credit card information with them. This is for your protection in the event of fraud.

APFA and AA have planned retirement sessions for flight attendants. The following dates have been announced: DFW – March 29th, LAX – April 20th, and SAN – April 21st. Times and locations will be announced as soon as they’re final. Dates are also in the works for retirement sessions by APFA and AA in MIA, STL, NYC and BOS.

This week, American filed its 2004 annual report with the SEC. You can access it by going to www.sec.gov and select the Filings and Forms link or by visiting aa.com.

In rumor control we have a few repeats, but for those of you who still may be wondering – no, the company has not requested more concessions from APFA members, including a $2 an hour pay cut; no, AA has not alerted APFA about more furloughs or recalls, and management denies they are receiving any raises.

One Flight Attendant was asking whether the rumor that no one will be transferred into MIA, IMA or any other Int’l base with less than ten years seniority was true.

A: All transfer and proffer offers and awards are announced by the Company via HI6 messages and on the flight service website. Recently, there were proffers to several International bases awarded, some of which were awarded to F/As with less than ten years. Please refer to your Contract as well as the flight service website to review transfers and proffers and procedures for laterals, etc…

Another Flight Attendant asked if AA and APFA were negotiating for flight attendants to start cleaning the aircraft and the lavs. As previously mentioned, the Company has not requested any concessions, and APFA isn’t interested in giving any either. There is always the possibility that AA could come to APFA and ask for more concessions on top of those we gave in ’03. If this happens, the membership will be notified immediately.

And the last rumor, that’s more of a question is: will AA reconsider extending recall rights or pass privileges to those on furlough?

Answer: While the Company has still not agreed to any relief on these two issues, APFA will not stop in its efforts to secure extended recall rights as well as travel benefits for those flight attendants on furlough at American.

Briefly, in industry news, Continental reached tentative agreements with its unions through December 2008 this past week equaling $330 million a year. If ratified, Continental will have $500 million in employee concessions. In other concessionary news, US Airways announced $720 million in earnings at the expense of its employees’ pensions. Will it ever be enough?

That’s it for this week. Thanks for calling the APFA Hotline.