8.03.13 – (LAA) – Equity Claim, Merger Q’s, AM/PM Ballot, GRU Hotel, NLRB and NMB
APFA Hotline – August 3, 2013
Equity Claim, Merger Q’s, AM/PM Ballot, GRU Hotel, NLRB and NMB
Good News Regarding Our Equity Claim
Working with our colleagues at APA and TWU, APFA and our bankruptcy professionals have reached an agreement with the company that will give flight attendants more clarity with regards to the distribution of our equity claim.
The agreement allows APFA members to avoid a forced-sale of our equity claim while complying with federal tax laws.
We expect that the shares issued to flight attendants – less the federal withholding – will be freely trade-able and transferable upon receipt. If that expectation changes for any reason you will be informed via this hotline.
Facilitating the distribution of our claim will be a firm called BMC. As soon as possible, the APFA website will include a link to BMC that will provide flight attendants with an online tool to determine their disbursement. The APFA phone menu will also include an option to speak with or email a BMC representative who will be able to answer specific questions and address concerns.
Stay tuned to this hotline for more specific details of the tax agreement. Special thank you to our professionals including The Jefferies team for their help in reaching this agreement.
APFA Merger Questions
Understandably, we receive lots of questions about the merger and what will happen once we exit bankruptcy. APFA has set up an email address to answer your questions to the best of our ability: [email protected]. Feel free to submit your questions or concerns here.
AM/PM Info, Sample Ballot and Q&As
AM/PM continues for Reserves at the following four bases: LGA, DCA, IDF and LAX-I. We hope to announce expansion to at least two more bases during the month of August. Daily ballots are to be submitted for next-day coverage. For example, if you wish to submit a bid for AM/PM on August 3rd, you will submit your ballot on August 2nd, and so on. These awards will be processed manually until the computers are programmed to accommodate this new procedure system wide. The following documents have been uploaded to www.apfa.org for your reference:
Sao Paulo Non-Smoking Hotel Reminder
The Hotel department would like to remind all FAs who stay at the long layover hotel in GRU that Brazil has a smoking ban in all hotels. To enforce this policy the government performs unannounced inspections and the owners/operators of GRU hotels can be fined.
FA Tablet and Facebook
After polling Flight Attendants, about 90% of those who voted have requested that AA remove Facebook from our Tablets. Effective with the current update, Facebook will be removed. Thank you for your input!
DOJ Still Gunning for Horton’s $20 Million
Yesterday, U.S. Trustee for NY – Tracy Hope Davis – requested once again that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of NY block the payment of Tom Horton’s stock/cash severance payment of $19.9 million citing a law that caps executive payouts.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane will rule on the Trustee’s filing on August 15, the date on which he is expected to approve the Plan of Reorganization.
National Labor Relations Board
This week, the Senate confirmed the President’s nominations to the National Labor Relations Board. This development ends a decade-long political fight and marks a significant step forward for the labor movement. The NLRB is now fully staffed for the first time since 2003 and, despite opposition from some Republicans, it will continue to protect and enforce the collective bargaining rights of our brothers and sisters across various industries.
National Mediation Board
Also this past week, the US Senate confirmed all three nominees to the National Mediation Board. Chairman Linda Puchala, Member Harry Hoglander were re-confirmed and Nicholas Christopher Geale was appointed to fill the vacant Republican seat on the Board. The NMB – the agency charged with overseeing collective bargaining and representation under the Railway Labor Act, is now fully staffed.
AmericanAirlines + US Airways
“On Our Way”
Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator