5.07.03

Hello, this is George Price APFA National Communications Coordinator with an APFA Hotline Update for Wednesday, May 7, 2003.

The company has notified the APFA that an overage in the International operation exists. In accordance with Appendix I, Article 12.G.1 through G.3 of the contract, Flight Attendants in international bases where long-term overages exist will be provided the opportunity to voluntarily resign and return to the Domestic operation. If enough requests are not received, involuntary assignments to the Domestic operation will be made in reverse order of seniority.

Flight Attendants in the affected bases who wish to voluntarily return to the Domestic operation may submit their request through the Flight Service Web site. Requests must be submitted by 1300 CDT on Friday, May 9, 2003. If you are having problems accessing the Flight Service Web site to submit your transfer request, please contact your Flight Service Manager for assistance. Notification of assignment to the Domestic operation will be done through an HI6 message on or before May 12, 2003.

The following is a list of the International bases that have a long-term overage and the estimated number of overages that currently exist:

BOSI 10
IDF 75
JFK 120
IMA 150
IOR 25
SFOI 10

Flight Attendants who return to the Domestic operation either voluntarily or involuntarily will retain their recall rights to the International operation for up to 2 years.

The implementation schedule of the Restructuring Agreement has been posted on the APFA Web site under “Restructuring Agreement Information.”

The APFA and the company continue to meet on the issue of “underfly.” Again, “underfly” will not be implemented during the month of May.

From the Health Department: Flight Attendants will have the opportunity to make limited changes to their medical plans and/or dependents from May5 to May 20, 2003. In order to allow Flight Attendants affected by the increase in medical contribution rates to make changes, the company has put this process in place. Flight Attendants can only make changes one time. They will not be allowed to go back and modify selections once selections have been made during this interim enrollment period.

The APFA Health Department wants to be sure that all Flight Attendants who plan to make changes are clear on a few points. If a Flight Attendant elects to “waive” medical coverage in order to be covered by their spouse’s plan, they are removing themselves and their dependants from the current AA Medical plan. If they “waive” medical coverage, the Flight Attendant and their dependants will continue to have dental and vision coverage if they currently have it.

If a Flight Attendant “drops” or “de-enrolls” a dependant from medical coverage, they are removing the dependant(s) from all current AA coverage. This only applies to dependant(s). If the Flight Attendant “drops” a dependant from the medical plan, they will also be removed from dental and vision coverage.

If you are considering making changes to your medical plans and/or dependants, please be sure that you understand the difference between “waive” and “drop.” More information on this process can be found on the Flight Service Web site under “Info Now.”

As a reminder, the deadline for submission of proffers for Overage Leaves and Partnership Flying is 0800 CDT on May 12th. The APFA Partner Finder can be found on the APFA Web site under “Resource Center” and “Reduction in Force” for those Flight Attendants interested in locating a partner at their base. Information on both Overage Leaves and Partnership Flying can be found on the web site under “Reduction in Force.”

The deadline for submission of transfer requests to STL is 0800 CDT on May 12th. If the company does not receive sufficient transfer requests to STL, they will, in accordance with Article 16.C, page 186 of the contract, force transfer Flight Attendants from bases where overages exist in reverse order of seniority. The company will determine which bases have overages and the numbers of overages after the International long-term reductions, Overage Leaves, and Partnership Flying requests have been processed. The results of the Overage Leaves, Partnership Flying, STL transfers, and furloughs are expected to be released late in the week of May 12th. We will update the hotline and the web site with the information as it becomes available.

If you are considering transferring into STL, please be aware that you will be required to attend training in order to qualify on equipment flown under the TWA-LLC operating certificate. This training will be conducted in May and June. Once you are trained and based in STL, you can only fly the TWA-LLC equipment due to the fact it falls under a separate operating certificate from American Airlines equipment. If, after your 3-month lock-in, you wish to transfer out of STL, you will be required to attend an abbreviated training class.

APFA is working very closely with American Airlines and various unemployment offices and work force development offices throughout the country to set up Rapid Response informational meetings and job fairs for Flight Attendants who may be or who have been affected by reduction in force. These are very beneficial meetings aimed at educating employees on unemployment services, financial planning, COBRA insurance, job placement and opportunities, and other resources available to them if they are unemployed. As these meetings are finalized, they will be included on this hotline and on the APFA Web site under “Reduction in Force,” “Furlough,” and the base page of the bases the meetings will be held in. APFA will continue to update the Furlough page of the web site with resources and job opportunities. If you know of any job opportunity or resource that might be of interest to any of our members facing furlough, please send them to [email protected].

The U.S. Senate may vote as early as this week on Senate bill S.824 the Aviation Investment and Revitalization Act. This bill also contains provisions that would require certification of Flight Attendants. We are one of the only safety sensitive employees in the aviation industry that are not currently certified. At this time, even parachute packers are certified under the FAA. The APFA has been working on this legislation for some time with other Flight Attendant unions. APFA members should contact their senators today to urge their support of S.824. APFA has provided a prepared message that can be sent on your behalf to your senators. To access this message, simply click on the APFA Action Alert on the opening page of the web site. Enter your Zip Code and complete the necessary fields. Your senator may require a “subject.” This would be “transportation.” Be sure to provide that information before submitting the form. More information on Senate bill S. 824 and House bill H.R. 1889 can be found on the Government Affairs page of the APFA Web site and on Capwiz.

The Annual AMR Board of Directors Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 21st at Flagship University. Registration will begin at 0730 and the meeting will begin at 0830. All APFA members who are current AMR stockholders are encouraged to attend the meeting in uniform. This will send a clear message to management that we have made an investment in the company through our concessions, and that we are going to be monitoring their actions and our investment very carefully.

The APFA Hotline will be updated as information becomes available.

That is it for this edition of the APFA Hotline. Please visit the APFA Web site for more information.