7.06.06 – (LAA) – NBC Certifies Results of the BOS-I and LGA VChairperson Ballot Count, FAMS Responsible for the Crewmember Self Defense Training (CMSDT) Program

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Thursday, July 6, 2006.

Today the APFA National Ballot Committee, in conjunction with our independent auditors Whitley-Penn, certified the results of the BOS-I and LGA Vice Chairperson ballot count. The results are as follows: At Boston International Joann Matley received 112 votes and Sean Nowicke received 134 votes. Sean Nowicke is the newly elected Vice Chair at BOS-I. At New York LGA Alan Montana received 244 votes, Travis Pfahler received 81 votes and Louis Safdie received 82 votes. Alan Montana is the newly elected Vice Chair at New York LGA. Both Sean Nowicke and Alan Montana will assume office immediately for the remainder of the two-year term ending March 31, 2007.

Today, ballots submitted by the Northwest Airlines Flight Attendants in the representational election between PFAA and AFA-CWA were counted. As a reminder, not only are the NW Flight Attendants attempting to defend their Contract within the confines of the bankruptcy court, but they are also faced with a choice as to who will represent them from here on out – their current independent voice – the Professional Flight Attendants Association, or the Association of Flight Attendants/Communication Workers of America. The election has been certified by the NMB and the results are that AFA-CWA is the new representational voice for the Northwest Flight Attendants. PFAA received 2,668 votes and AFA-CWA received 4,349 votes. The flight attendants must reach an agreement with Northwest Airlines on their Contract by July 15th, or the recently-rejected concessionary agreement could be imposed. Should Northwest decide to impose contract terms, a Strike or work-stoppage may be on the horizon. APFA encourages the Northwest Flight Attendants to continue to stay active in this process.

The Federal Air Marshals (FAMS) are now responsible for the Crewmember Self Defense Training (CMSDT) program. The voluntary course that was originally scheduled for three days in length has been reduced to one eight-hour training session. The primary focus of the revised class is hands-on training. Participants will receive a home study and DVD prior to attending the class. Look for the new CMSDT posters in Operations. Details on these classes can be found on the APFA Safety & Security Department Web site as well as going to http://www.tsa.gov/cmsdt.

APFA had high hopes that the House and Senate would resolve the outstanding issues in the pension reform bill prior to congress’ July 4th recess. Again, congress has missed its own self-imposed deadline and left Washington with no resolution. The highly contentious point yet to be resolved is determining at what point a company is considered to be “at risk,” which will set how much must be contributed to the pension plan. Other issues are credit balances and credit rating along with the airline provision. Thank you to those who have sent letters and made phone calls. Your participation is one of the main reasons that the House and Senate bills made it into conference. Be assured that APFA is tracking this bill closely. The pension reform bill is critical for the future of the defined benefit plans at American Airlines. We will keep you apprised of congress’ progress this month and hope that the remaining issues can be resolved and the bill passed before congress leaves for its August recess.

Please continue to contact your Representative and Senators in Washington, D.C., regarding the pension reform bill. Encourage Congress to support the Senate’s version of the bill, which includes protection for the future of our defined benefit plans. Please go to www.apfa.org and click on Contact Congress Today re: Pension Reform to generate an automatic message via Capwiz to your elected officials.

Many of you leave messages for APFA Headquarters or your local APFA Representatives from your cell phones. Please be aware that your messages may not always come through clearly due to poor cellular connections, and on occasion your return number cannot be retrieved. If you do not receive a return call on the next business day, please try your call again.

Fuel Watch: As of Wednesday, July 5th, a barrel of crude oil cost $75.19, up $3.39 from last Monday’s price. This is the first time oil has exceeded $75 a barrel. The crack spread price was $13.59, down .21 cents from last week’s price. This brings the cost of one barrel of jet fuel to $88.78 – up $3.18 from the price of jet fuel a week ago.

One year ago July, the price of a barrel of crude was $59.03, and the crack-spread price was $10.73. The total for one barrel of jet fuel a year ago was $69.76, nearly $20 less than the price of a barrel of jet fuel today.

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Please remember we have 3,922 APFA members on furlough and ten members serving the military full time. That’s it for this week. Thanks for calling the APFA Hotline.