7.17.09 – (LAA) – Show OUR UNITY, Manual Up-to-Date, Proffers of Furlough Mitigation Option, Email Your Senators, Retirement Seminars at DFW

APFA weekly HotLine update for Friday, July 17, 2009.

QUICK ALERTS

• Show our Unity! Wear only your Pins and Wings!
• Manual up-to-date? FAA expected in NYC area (LGA, EWR, JFK) for compliance checks next week.
• Proffers for Furlough Mitigation options now open. More information online. (click here)
• Email your Senators to Support the Technical Corrections Bill for the Family Leave and Medical Act ñ S.1422 (click here)
• Retirement Seminars at DFW – two Flight Attendant sessions on July 20. (details below)
• Voice your opinion. Quick polls open on Onboard Retail Sales. (click here)

NEGOTIATING TEAM PREPARES TO RETURN TO TALKS

This week, your APFA Negotiating Team met at APFA Headquarters in preparation for returning to bargaining talks with American management. Two full-week mediated sessions are set to begin, the first starting July 20 in Dallas and the second July 27 in Washington, DC. When your Team squares off against management, they need the backing of all members. Show where your support lies in our fight for improved pay, work rules and benefits. If you are not wearing just Pins and Wings then you are not displaying your unity with your fellow members and your Union!

Move your memorial pins, service pins, flags, etc. to your serving garment and proudly wear only your APFA pin and wings on your jacket. These little displays show that you heed the call of your chosen representatives to act in unison and speak with one voice. The company is beginning to test the waters of our resolve as they watch our actions. What does your uniform lapel say about you? Need a replacement pin? Email: [email protected]

AIRLINE SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS REPORTING SEASON BEGINS

Mid-July is earnings report time and American is the first of the major carriers to unveil its balance sheet for the three-month period April through June of 2009. As expected, the numbers are red. Though coming in slightly better than analysts predicted, the exact figure revealed on Wednesday was either a minus $390 million, or – excluding “special items” like costs related to aircraft sales and groundings – minus $319 million. $80 million of the loss was attributed to the disruptions in American’s operations in responding to the H1N1 virus. The other major US carriers are expected to report quarterly earnings over the next two weeks.

FURLOUGH MITIGATION OPTIONS

By now, every Flight Attendant should be well aware of the available voluntary options being proffered to help absorb a forecast manning overage of up to 1,200 of our members effective October 1. A card was mailed to each active Flight Attendant with a brief overview. Even if not in a position yourself to take an Overage Leave, or reduce your flying for the fall through the Modified Partnership (Part-Time), please share this information with those you know who may be looking for time off or reduced flying or who routinely drop part or all of their schedule. Doing so may save another Flight Attendant’s career.

For those considering a leave or time off in the fall and who are in their baseís reserve rotation, there are aspects to the single or two-month Overage Leave blocks of October and/or November that may positively affect you. See the details on the Reduction in Force page of APFA.org or contact a local or headquarters APFA representative.

If you are considering proffering Modified Partnership for the three month period October through December, there is a detailed example of the 420-hour threshold calculation for this ìpart-timeî period on the Reduction in Force page (or click here).

See a one-page overview of all the mitigation options through this link: Summary Table of Furlough Mitigation Options

The proffers for Overage Leaves of Absence and for the Modified Partnership Flying (Part Time) will close at 10am (1000) central time, Friday, July 31. Our APFA Reps-on-Duty are available to assist you in understanding what the options mean and how they can work for you. Call 817.540.0108 ext. 8161 or 8171 or email a rep through the contact link at APFA.org.

THOSE SUBJECT TO FURLOUGH MAY PROFFER

Those among the 1,200 subject to furlough may proffer an Overage Leave and/or Modified Partnership Flying. As in the past, the number of proffers to be awarded to these Flight Attendants will be based on the number of Leaves, Modified Partnership Flying and Travel Separations awarded to those not originally subject to the furlough.

TRAVEL SEPARATION PROGRAM

A Travel Separation Program is being offered to eligible Flight Attendants in addition to the Overage Leaves and Modified Partnership Flying. For active Flight Attendants, the deadline for electing the Travel Separation is 11pm (2300) central time, Thursday, July 30.

For currently furloughed Flight Attendants, a separate election window for Travel Separation opened on July 15 and will close at 11pm (2300) central time, August 14. A copy of the invitation letter is on the furlough page of APFA.org (or click here).

If interested, your election form is accessible online through: aacareers.com/support

EMAIL YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT FAMILY LEAVE FOR CREWMEMBERS

The Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (S.1422) has been reintroduced into the US Senate by Senator Patty Murray of Washington. APFA strongly supports this legislation to correct and clarify the eligibility requirements of the Family Leave and Medical Act with respect to airline flight crews. The Capwiz online system is an easy way to email your Senators and will send either a request for support or a thank-you letter depending on their co-sponsorship status. (Click here for APFA’s Capwiz alert page.)

FROM THE APFA HOTEL DEPARTMENT Ö

The APFA Hotel Department reminds all crewmembers that smoking in designated non-smoking layover rooms may subject the crewmember to a hotel-imposed cleaning fee. These fees can be steep, often ranging from $150 – $450. Perhaps more importantly, violating the non-smoking policies this way can put our contract with the hotel at risk.

For those laying over at the LAX airport location, we continue to receive reports over the transportation issues peculiar to this location. Please do not jeopardize your contractual rest in order to catch an earlier van to the airport. Doing so to make up for the shortcomings in the transportation service does not ultimately solve the problem. If you arrive late to the airport from your scheduled pick-up due to delayed or overcrowded transportation, inform the agent of this fact and report it to the APFA Hotel Department. Include the flight number(s), date and how long you had to wait for your transportation. Email this to: [email protected] or use the debrief web form through the Hotel Page of APFA.org.

FROM THE APFA SCHEDULING DEPARTMENT Ö

Reassignment vs. reschedule: A reassignment occurs when you are removed by Crew Schedule or Crew Tracking from a trip or leg for which you are legal and available and are then assigned to a different trip or leg that you are obligated to fly. You are pay protected for the greater sequence total: that of the trips you were removed from or that of what you actually fly.

During the month (except for the last five days), the pay protection applies only to the original trip(s) from which you were reassigned, even if the reassignment causes you to lose more than one trip, i.e. you lose a subsequent sequence.

During the last five days of the month, you are pay protected for all trips you lose due to the reassignment and do not have a make-up obligation. This pay protection is confined to the contractual month in which the reassignment takes place.

A reschedule is defined as a change in a trip sequence, such as destination or flight number, that results from irregularities due to: weather delays, equipment delays, crew shortages or MIC.

Reschedules occur frequently, so be aware of the monthly limitations and over-projection procedures. Even if you are Option II, you cannot be flown an unlimited amount of hours when it comes to a reschedule.

Article 8.J issues: ATC HOLD/ACTUAL “OUT” TIME (CODE 59)

Payment for an ATC Hold and/or Actual “Out” Time (Code 59) is not automatic. The Captain must input the proper code. If the Captain fails to input the code, and you feel that ATC Hold and/or Actual “Out” Time (Code 59) pay applies, contact your local base chair/vice chair with all the pertinent sequence details. These issues can often be resolved through contact with the Flight Department at the appropriate base.

Click here to read/download a single-page reprint of Article 8.J.

DALLAS/FT WORTH RETIREMENT SEMINARS

Following the two informative meetings today, two additional, Flight Attendant-specific Retirement Seminars will be held at DFW on Monday, July 20. 10am and 2pm are the times with both sessions to be held in the Yandry Center across from gate C2, DFW terminal C. Flight Attendants from all bases are welcome to attend. No reservations are required. Representatives from both APFA (Patrick Hancock and Jackie Phillips) and AA will be present. Discussions include pension selections and retirement benefits, including insurance and travel. To get the most out of these helpful seminars, print out and bring your personal pension estimate and plan calculation formulas from Jetnet.

TWA 800 ANNIVERSARY

We close this week’s HotLine with a mention that July 17 marks the 13th anniversary of the loss of TWA Flight 800, taking the lives of its four pilots, 14 Flight Attendants and 212 passengers about 22 minutes after takeoff from New York JFK to Paris that evening in 1996. We continue to honor those now gone whenever we reflect upon and recognize their loss. A memorial stands at Smith Point County Park in Long Island. (photo link)

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Remember that there are 1,258 members now on furlough and awaiting recall.