5.30.03

APFA Hotline Friday, May 30, 2003. This is APFA President John Ward. Today is Friday, May 30.

The APFA Board of Directors met yesterday in special session in the DFW area to discuss possible alternatives to the “underfly” provision contained in the Restructuring Agreement. The APFA Executive Committee will now take up this issue at its next meeting on June 23 and 24 in Washington, D.C. Once its determined what the alternatives to the “underfly” provision will be, the membership will decide whether to retain the “underfly” provision in the Restructuring Agreement or choose other items or combination of items that provides the same $20 million in annual cost savings to the Company as “underfly” does. I want to prepare you that whatever is determined will be sent to the membership for consideration may look just as unattractive to some as “underfly”. During the discussions with management that led to the Restructuring Agreement, “underfly” was ultimately included in the agreement because it was felt it was the lesser of the remaining evils. We recognize, however, that the membership may feel differently. The process in the April 25, 2003 Letter of Agreement between APFA and Management allows the membership to swap something else for “underfly”. It is anticipated that the membership vote on this issue will occur in July and in the meantime our understanding is that “underfly” will not be implemented.

Another issue discussed by the APFA Board yesterday involved the allocation formula for the stock options granted flight attendants in the Restructuring Agreement. The Board has determined that the most appropriate allocation formula would be to divide the options for flight attendants equally among all flight attendants who are eligible to receive options under the Equity Plan. What that means is that flight attendants on active status or on a leave of absence with reinstatement rights as of April 17, 2003 will receive the options.

When you divide up the APFA’s share of the options among those eligible to receive them, it amounts to about 200 shares per flight attendant. The strike price for these options is $5 per share.

Finally, the schedule for the Base Visits has been finalized and a reminder card has been sent to all members. I hope you’ll find the time to make it to one of these meetings. It’ll provide an opportunity to clear up some of the many rumors that continue to make their way around the system. For example, one I’ve heard on a number of occasions this week is that the APFA intends to eliminate the International pay scale. Nothing along these lines has ever been discussed by APFA either internally or with the Company. It’s interesting to note that the flight attendants circulating the recall petitions for the APFA officers and base chairs are often times the same ones who are spreading this kind of misinformation. Another favorite rumor of the week is that the APFA is contemplating the elimination of recall rights for furloughees. And again, this is completely false. Never been discussed. Never will be. If you’ve heard some of the same crazy stuff I’ve heard lately, I hope you’ll join the APFA Officers when we visit your base. I’ll be in LAX and SFO next week on June 4 and 5 respectively.

Thank you for listening. Please stay on the line for the remainder of this week’s message.

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Hello. Today is Friday, May 30, 2003. This is George Price, APFA National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline.

The APFA National Officers will visit each base in the system during the month of June. The meeting dates and locations are as follows:

June 4th LAX at the Hilton LAX Airport
June 5th SFO at the Embassy Suites Hotel at SFO
June 10th Chicago at the Radisson Hotel O’Hare
June 11th DFW at the Hyatt Regency Hotel DFW Airport
June 13th STL at the Hilton Hotel at St. Louis Airport
June 17th BOS at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport
June 18th LGA at the LaGuardia Marriott
June 19th MIA at the Doubletree Club Miami Airport
June 25th DCA at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Crystal City
June 30th RDU at the Hilton Garden Inn at Raleigh Durham Airport

A complete list of the times, dates, and locations of each base visit can be found on the opening page of the APFA Web site. Each Flight Attendant will soon receive the base visit schedule in the mail. Each meeting will begin at 1000 local time and will end at 1300.

Members of the APFA System Board of Adjustment will join members of other unions including the Association of Flight Attendants in attending the 56th Annual Academy of Arbitrators Convention being held in San Juan the first of June. APFA SBA Representatives have historically attended this convention, which is held in different locations each year. This is APFA’s opportunity to set our calendar for future arbitrations and compose our contractual panel of arbitrators. In addition, it provides our representatives with the opportunity to receive the very latest updates on key arbitration decisions that may affect future arbitrations conducted between the APFA and American Airlines.

The APFA Safety Department would like to remind all Flight Attendants to visit the SSI Web site on the Flight Service Web site for the very latest safety and security information. In addition, please be sure that while on duty that you carry an up-to-date In-Flight Manual, flashlight, and required keys. The FAA has stepped up their presence in all aspects of American’s operation. Flight Attendants that are not in compliance with FARs are subject to personal fines by the FAA.

The APFA Health Department is monitoring the status of the SARS epidemic very carefully. We continue to meet frequently with Company officials on this issue. Flight Attendants are encouraged to review Bulletin number 21 issued on April 14, 2003, for information on SARS. For the very latest SARS information from the CDC including the recent travel advisory for Toronto, please visit the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov. More information including a link to the CDC Web site can be found on the APFA Web site under Hot Topics and the Health Department page.

Meetings designed to assist employees affected by reduction in force are being scheduled around the system. These meetings include information on unemployment benefits, COBRA Insurance, job placement, educational opportunities, financial planning, and more. The American Airlines Outplacement Development Office and various state unemployment offices and Work Force Development Offices are working to schedule these meetings, and APFA is assisting by providing the meeting times, dates, and locations to our members that are affected. APFA strongly encourages any Flight Attendant that is facing furlough to attend one of these very informative meetings.
STL-June 2, June 10, June 18, and June 30. 1000 and 1400. TWA-LLC Training Center Auditorium.

LAX-June 3 and June 26. 0900 and 1300. Flight Service Conference Room-Concourse Level

ORD-June 5. 1000 and 1400. Group Room across from K1.

BOS- June 10. 1000 and 1300. Virgin Atlantic Room outside of security, upper level, Terminal B.

DFW- June 12 and 26. 1000 at the Flagship University. Eagle Room 3E39 and 1530 at the Yandry Center at DFW Airport, Terminal C.

SFO- June 11 and 23. 1100. SFO Training Room-Mezzanine Level.

JFK. June 11. 1000 and 1400. Group Room, Terminal 8-Mezzanine Level

Flight Attendants facing furlough or who have already been furloughed should visit the APFA Web site for additional information and links to useful resources. APFA is currently working with other Flight Attendant unions and the Department of Labor to identify even more resources for furloughed Flight Attendants and easier ways to access such resources. More on this as information becomes available.

In a bit of good news, the Company today announced a new travel program for furloughed employees who are furloughed after March 1, 2003. The travel period will be extended to eighteen months from the date of furlough. Any employee that has maintained perfect attendance from April 18, 2003, to the date of furlough or during the last 90 calendar days prior to the date of furlough will be eligible for an additional 6 months of travel for a total of two years. The boarding priority will be D2 for the first 90 days and D2P for the remainder of the time. Furloughed employees, their spouses, domestic partners or registered travel companions, dependent children, and the parents of the employee are eligible for travel. More information on this new program can be found on the APFA Web site under “Hot Topics” and on the furlough page under “updates.”

Retirement Seminars have been scheduled for Ft. Lauderdale and San Francisco. The schedule is as follows:

FLL-June 5. 1300. Terminal 3, West Conference Room behind the AA Ticket Counter.
SFO-June 19. 1100. SFO Training Room-Mezzanine Level. First come, first serve basis.

The APFA Communications Department would like to remind everyone using the APFA Bulletin Board or any other electronic message board or forum that the information you post is public domain whether it is password protected or not. Please keep this in mind when you are posting information. You never know where the information may end up or how it may be used. To protect yourself, please use discretion when posting. When using the APFA Bulletin Board, please remember that all members must abide by the rules governing posts. Only members of the APFA may post to the bulletin board.

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

Remember, there are 3,026 Flight Attendants currently on furlough at American Airlines.