4.28.06 – (LAA) – AA Informs APFA that in July 2006 757 and 752 Equipment Will Be Mixed on the Bid Sheet

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Friday, April 28, 2006. We have 3,975 members on furlough and 10 members serving full time in the military. Please keep them in your thoughts.

APFA News: AA has informed APFA that beginning in July 2006, 757 and 752 equipment will be mixed on the bid sheet in some selections at DFW, LGA, LAX and STL. The percentage of Flight Attendants already cross-trained in these bases ranges from 40-75%. While we don’t anticipate all of the 75 selections having mixed equipment, APFA recommends that any Flight Attendant who plans on bidding the 757 at these bases take advantage of voluntary training on the 752, if you haven’t already done so, in order to keep your bidding options open.

Earlier this year, AA announced their intent to eliminate Open Replacement jobs and place those jobs on Reserve due to their assertion that Open Replacement was not covering the flying it was intended to. Since March, the parties have met on numerous occasions to resolve the problem so that AA feels they have the coverage they need and APFA members don’t get put back onto Reserve. As APFA’s National Scheduling Coordinator Jaimie McNeice previously notified the membership in a Hotline update on Wednesday, APFA and AA have agreed to a test solution that will keep Open Replacement, thereby preventing any of these Flight Attendants from being thrown back onto Reserve.

In short, one-half of those F/A’s who hold Open Replacement lines, which total about 200 jobs system wide, will be prevented from pre-plotting their trips prior to day-before coverage. These jobs, considered the ’buffer,’ are the number of jobs AA is willing to pay – over and above operational necessity – thus providing F/As with more flexibility in trip trading with open time and PVDs. This will enable American to better determine staffing on the days it needs it, while retaining the benefits of Open Replacement for those Flight Attendants who bid it, keeping them off Reserve. This solution falls well within the boundaries of our Contractual language. The Company has made it clear that if this solution is ineffective, they intend to place more F/As on Reserve during the summer and holidays.

APFA will be monitoring the 2000 Series Open Replacement schedules carefully. If you are one of the Flight Attendants that holds Open Replacement, please let us know your opinion once the June bid month begins. Send an email to [email protected] . This test will be in effect through August 2006. For complete details on this subject, please refer to the April 26th APFA Hotline and the letter signed by both parties dated April 24, 3006, on APFA’s Web site .

The reciprocal cabin seat agreement test AA and Southwest entered into last year is now an agreement. For details on the agreement between the parties that allows Flight Attendants to travel free on each other’s aircraft, review the Winter issue of Skyword .

Several months ago, we included a paragraph with a contact email address on this Hotline for F/A’s wishing to discontinue PCFOS payroll deductions from your paychecks. The Company recently notified us that the email address they provided is no longer valid. For those F/A’s who have attempted to stop PCFOS deductions but have been unsuccessful, or for those wishing to request deductions for PCFOS bediscontinued, please send an email to [email protected] . Include your name and employee number and state your request to discontinue payroll deduction of PCFOS.

Bankruptcy Watch: Delta’s pilots, represented by ALPA, approved a tentative agreement paving the way for a vote by the membership. The process should be completed by May 31st. If ratified, this Contract will provide a savings to the company of $280 million annually for four years. These concessions are on top of a 32% pay cut the pilots took last year to help cut costs and improve revenue. In the T/A, the pilots agreed to an immediate 14% pay cut for the remainder of ’06 and the allowance of 76-seat Regional Jets on the Delta Connection.

Fuel Watch: As of Wednesday, April 26th, a barrel of crude oil cost $71.93 down .24 cents from last Wednesday’s price. The crack spread price was $17.59, down $1.17 from last week’s price. This brings the cost of one barrel of jet fuel to $89.52 – down $1.41 from the price of jet fuel last week. One year ago, the price of a barrel of crude was $53.22, and the crack spread price was $12.82. The total for one barrel of jet fuel a year ago was $66.03, nearly $25 less per barrel than today’s price.

If you are not already receiving this Hotline automatically and would like to, please reply with the words “Add me to the Hotline list” in the subject line and you will be included in APFA’s weekly updates. If you no longer wish to receive these updates, please reply with “Please Remove Me” in the subject.

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