1.31.03

Hello. This is APFA Communications Coordinator George Price with the APFA Hotline for Friday, January 31st, 2003.

On Thursday, January 30th, 2003, Richard Reid, a self-described member of al-Quaeda, was sentenced to life in prison. Reid pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, en route from Paris to Miami. The heroic acts of our Flight Attendant crew, Pilot crew, and passengers onboard this flight will always be remembered.

APFA was formally notified by American Airlines earlier today that an overage of 750 Flight Attendants will exist at our STL base by the spring of this year. An overage of 355 Flight Attendants will exist on April 1 and 395 on May 1. An Overage Leave of Absence proffer is expected to open in mid-February for a 12-month key block from April 3, 2003, through March 4, 2004, a 3-month auxiliary block from April to June 2003, and a 9-month auxiliary block from July 2003 to March 2004. Awards should be final in early March. If an insufficient number of leaves are awarded, the most junior Flight Attendants on the combined system seniority list will be subject to furlough in accordance with Article 16 of the contract. For more information on this reduction in force and to view a copy of the WARN letter presented to APFA by American today, please visit the APFA Web site.

The APFA National Officers, along with the officers of both the Allied Pilots Association and Transport Workers Union met today with American’s V.P. of Employee Relations and others for a discussion on the Company’s current financial situation. These meetings are most definitely not negotiating sessions at this time, but rather permit the parties to come together to engage in open and frank discussions on the state of the Company.

A special Board of Directors meeting has been called by APFA President John Ward for February 11th and 12th in Washington, D.C. The meeting will convene at 0900 on Tuesday, February 11th and will continue on through Wednesday, February 12th. The Board will be briefed by our financial analyst, legal advisors, and others as to the current situation with American Airlines. We will continue to keep you updated on these issues through the Hotlines and the APFA web site.

Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF)-An HI6 message was sent to all Flight Attendants regarding the possible activation of CRAF flying. The contractual provisions governing CRAF flying are located in Part II of Appendix E, beginning on Page 393 of the Agreement.

A system volunteer list is maintained in order of seniority of Flight Attendants who have volunteered to perform international CRAF flying. Domestic Flight Attendants may perform International CRAF flying provided their international qualifications are current.

A Flight Attendant may add his or her name to the volunteer list at any time by submitting a HISEND form 31. You can delete your name from the volunteer list at any time prior to being assigned to the CRAF reserve pool. Once you have been assigned to the CRAF reserve pool, you will remain in the reserve pool for a minimum period of 90 days, or until CRAF is deactivated, or you are “bumped back” to your normal operation.

CRAF flying in the international operation is staffed with CRAF reserves from the reserve pool. Domestic CRAF flying is filled through the order of open time coverage. Should there be an insufficient number of volunteers to perform CRAF flying, open CRAF flying will be filled by management personnel. You will not be involuntarily assigned to the CRAF operation. CRAF flying is done strictly on a volunteer basis.

To be eligible for CRAF flying, you must:
” Have current international qualifications;
” Be qualified on the 777 and 767;
” Be a US citizen;
” Hold a current valid US passport;
” Not currently serving in the US military, Reserves, or National Guard;
” Be able to provide your blood type.

Prior to volunteering for CRAF flying, we strongly recommend that you review the special “Military Charter and CRAF Flying” briefing in the special updates section on the flight service web site. This information will also be available on the APFA Web site. The briefing provides a background on CRAF flying, identifies the requirements, and contains a “Special Medical Briefing.”

Additionally, we encourage you to visit the following official web sites:
” www.cdc.gov Center for Disease Control (for health information for travelers to the Middle East);
” www.cia.gov Central Intelligence Agency (click onto “The World Factbook” to obtain information on specific geographic regions;
” www.icrc.org International Committee of the Red Cross (for information on the Geneva Convention).

In hotel news, the Company has informed APFA that, in an effort to reduce costs, it will consider airport locations and other non-downtown locations for long layovers as hotel contracts come up for renewal. APFA President John Ward and National Hotel Coordinator Patty Bias have both informed the Company that this move, aside from being totally unacceptable, is not in keeping with the contractual provisions of Article 21 of the Agreement. We will keep you updated.

Those Flight Attendants affected by the Oakland-JFK and Miami-Santiago Dominican Republic schedule changes must follow Misconnect, Illegality, Cancellation (MIC) procedures to protect their guarantees for the month of February. Domestic Flight Attendants must call between eight o’clock a.m. and twelve noon the day prior to each day originally scheduled to fly to meet the MIC obligation. The call-in window for International Flight Attendants is ten o’clock a.m. until twelve noon. This applies to all trips lost with the exception of the last trip of the month falling within the last seven days of the contractual month. Please refer to Article 9P (Page 120) or I-9P (Page 484) for information regarding MIC procedures. The last seven days pay protection language may be found on Page 124 or Page 488.

The January Skyword addresses concerns that have been raised among our members about the Flight Attendant Pension Plan and it’s security. You should be receiving your January issue of Skyword in the next few days. You may also access Skyword on the APFA Web site.

From the Contract Desk: As a reminder to all Domestic Flight Attendants, all Domestic transfer requests currently on file will be purged on February 4th, 2003. You may re-submit your transfer request on February 5th, 2003. Please refer to HIDIR/FA/TFR/DOMT/BIDT for instructions regarding the input of transfer preferences.

Talks continue between AMR Corporation and the Allied Pilots Association concerning the recent proposal of combining the seniority between American Airlines Pilots, and American Eagle Pilots. APA’s Negotiating Committee is in the process of evaluating this proposal. We at APFA are aware of the situation, however we are not privileged to information exchanged between APA and the company during contract negotiations. APFA will continue to watch this situation very closely and keep you updated as information is provided.

In industry news:

This week American Airlines stated it will cut cost, but not service. Company executives say the airline will survive as a big domestic and international carrier catering to business travelers. Many believe the carrier should reinvent itself as a low-cost carrier, while American officials say the answer is not to become a low-cost carrier, but getting its costs more in line with those of the low-cost carriers.

Northwest Airlines announced its plan to ask labor for cost cuts. Northwest told analysts and reporters earlier in January that it would likely have to cut more jobs to compete with low-fare competitors and rivals that are cutting costs through bankruptcy. Unions will be meeting with management for the next few weeks to review a five-year business plan and labor-cost restructuring plan. Northwest reported a $798 million net loss for 2002.

Today United Airlines posted its largest annual net loss ever, $3.2 billion for 2002, after filing for bankruptcy in December. Unions at United Airlines are working under temporary wage cuts that save the airline $70 million per month. The labor unions are currently negotiating long-term changes.

In rumor control: Rumors are running rampant, and understandably so with the recent press coverage. Please forward any rumors to the InfoRep Captain at you base or to [email protected] . A list of e-mail addresses for Base InfoRep Captains can be found under “InfoRep” on the APFA Web site.

Please remember, effective January 31st 2003, there are 2,396 Flight Attendants on furlough.