8.24.13 – (LAA) – OSHA, Merger Support, Seniority Integration, Reserve, Line Guarantee, Thresholds, FAA Audits

 

APFA Hotline – OSHA, Merger Support, Seniority Integration, Reserve, Line Guarantee, Thresholds, FAA Audits – August 24, 2013

APFA Welcomes Occupational Health and Safety Protections (OSHA) for Flight Attendants
After 14 long years of meeting with lawmakers in Washington, APFA was pleased to learn this week that the FAA and OSHA have finally announced a policy that will provide new workplace protections for flight attendants.

The release of the final policy provides new safety and health protections for all U.S. crew members. The key to making this a reality for Flight Attendants was APFA’s work on the Hill to ensure an amendment was added to the 2012 FAA Reauthorization Bill.

APFA has already met with the FAA and OSHA on the implementation of these new health and safety protections and we look forward to continuing our work as these protections are laid out for our members.

Click here to read the FAA’s Statement issued by Administrator Michael Huerta.

Crandall Sends Letter to TX State Attorney General Against DOJ Lawsuit
“From: Robert Crandall
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 14:35
To: [email protected]
Subject: Your opposition to the AA-US merger

Mr. Abbott:
I was Chairman and Chief Executive of AA from 1985 to 1998. When I left the Company, it was the largest airline in the world – and arguably the most successful. As the Company grew, it employed more people, underwrote the expansion of the DFW airport, expanded business opportunities for thousands of businesses located in or attracted to DFW and had a major role in making it possible for the Metroplex to become a world class city.

I am dumfounded by your opposition to this merger. If you succeed in thwarting the merger, neither AA nor US will be successful in the years ahead, as neither is either large or ubiquitous enough to compete with Delta and United, each of which was created by a merger that was far more anti-competitive than the AA-US combination. I do not understand why you think that crippling one of Texas’s most successful companies will benefit anyone.

It will certainly not benefit consumers, who will be subject to price and service alternatives set by the Delta-United duopoly. It will disadvantage American’s employees, American’s shareholders and American’s customers – and it will severely disadvantage all Texas residents, who will rue the day they lost their world class airline.

I hope you will reconsider this ill conceived action.”

Read TX State Senator Wendy Davis’ Letter to President Obama in Support of Merger
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis (Texas, District 10) sent a letter to President Barack Obama last week asking that the DOJ reconsider its lawsuit against the merger. Among her concerns were the potential for job loss if the DOJ prevailed in its efforts to block the suit.

ATTN: AA FAs – A Request For Information
APFA is in the process of preparing for the eventual integration of our seniority list with the US Airways’ seniority list. Some of you may be aware that the US Airways flight attendants use the date they began initial new hire training for bidding purposes, while our Occupational (bidding) Seniority date is based on the date we are placed on payroll as a flight attendant with AA (per Article 13.A.2). As a result, APFA is in the process of reviewing our initial new hire training dates in order to determine what adjustment needs to be made to our current Occupational Seniority dates to ensure our new hire training is accounted for as part of the integration with the US FA seniority list.

NOTE: THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT DISRUPTION TO THE RELATIVE SENIORITY OF APFA’S CURRENT LIST.

To date, APFA has been able to gather a significant amount of information regarding our initial new hire training from the APFA Archives Department as well as from AA’s records. Based on this information, we know that not all new hire training was for the same number of days. We also know that variations exist between the end of training and the first day on payroll depending on the class.

APFA has not yet determined how Occupational Seniority dates should be adjusted. In order to have the most complete information possible, we are asking members for your help. There are a few AA training classes for which no roster is available or the roster has been damaged to the degree it is not entirely legible. A small number of AA training rosters are missing key information such as employee numbers. Please access the Flight Attendant Initial Training Information Form via this link and provide the information requested. This will help us verify current information and fill in areas where initial training information was not available from American. Please complete this form by September 9, 2013.

*If you are unable to log into the APFA Web site to gain access to this request, send an email from the address you have on file with APFA to [email protected] requesting a reset password. If you have not logged in before, please send an email to [email protected] with the following information:
First Name
Last Name
Employee Number
Last 4 digits of your SSN

AGAIN: THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT DISRUPTION TO THE RELATIVE SENIORITY OF APFA’S SENIORITY LIST.

C-Bill of Work on Round-Trip Same-Flight-Number Flights
In another step to prepare for our merger with US Airways, AA will begin to use the same flight number on round-trip segments beginning next week. This is being done to reduce the number of flight numbers needed for AA flights in order to ensure we can accommodate all of the current US flying with AA flight numbers. APFA has clarified with AA that this in no way changes the meaning of a thru flight for cabin cleaning (C-bill) purposes. Therefore if the same flight number is used for a flight from DFW to TUL and back to DFW, FAs would not clean in TUL.

AM/PM
As previously announced, ORD and IOR will be the next two bases to have the AM/PM Reserve option. Daily ballots are submitted for next-day coverage via the Flight Service website. For example, if you wish to submit a bid for AM/PM on September 3, you would submit your ballot on September 2nd. AM/PM awards will be processed manually until AA’s computers can be programmed to accommodate this new procedure system wide. Information explaining the details of the AM/PM option and ballot is available on www.apfa.org. Click here, then scroll to Reserve and click on the appropriate links.

It is important to note that when AM is awarded, the tape states simply that the FA is released until 2358. This does not mean the FA is released for the entire day. It means that the FA is released from 1300-2358 (due to the AM period of availability). Crew Scheduling may contact you two hours prior to the beginning of your period of AM/PM availability with an assignment but such assignment must depart within your obligation period.

OEs and Reserve
For Regularly Scheduled FAs flying an OE into your Reserve month, those OE hours will NOT be paid on top of guarantee. OR flying must originate within the reserve month. When OEs (as well as any other sequences) are flown into the Reserve month, the flying either flies on top of Reserve days or, if the trip conflicts with DFPs, the DFPs are adjusted based on the arrival time of the OE trip. Review Article 10.F.11. for actual contractual language.

Line Guarantee
Due to the DOJ lawsuit and the resulting postponement of bankruptcy exit, APFA is working with AA to implement the interim pay protection (aka line guarantee) contained in the LBFO (Article 8.L). We’ll keep you updated on this hotline.

Attention Probationary Flight Attendants
APFA and AA management have reached agreement that would allow probationary FAs the ability to participate in mutual transfers. Mutual transfers are processed each month after any regular (vacancy) transfers are processed. Please visit the New Hire page of the APFA website to view the actual Letter of Agreement. You can find the contractual information for mutual transfers on the Contract section of the APFA website in Article 12.G.

In addition, you can find more information regarding mutual transfers, including the process to submit a mutual transfer request and deadlines on the Crew Resources page of the Flight Service website. Please keep in mind you cannot rescind a mutual transfer request, once granted. Therefore be sure you only enter preferences you are willing to accept and that you promptly remove any requests for which you are no longer interested.

Employment, Sick and VC Thresholds
APFA strongly encourages our members to meet the current thresholds for employment, sick and vacation as outlined in the LBFO.

Employment threshold: 420 paid hours (or an average of 35 paid hours per active month) for the 2013 calendar year
Sick and vacation accrual threshold: 600 paid hours (or an average of 50 hours per active month) for the 2013 calendar year.

Please continue to focus on meeting these thresholds until we actually exit bankruptcy and the merger takes place.

A319 Airbus Aircraft
On August 12, 2013 the A319 Airbus aircraft successfully passed the FAA required land mini-evac and planned ditching/raft familiarization portions of the aircraft certification process. Thanks and congratulations to the following APFA members who were selected by the FAA as the “working crew members” for the certification of the A319:

Robert Valenta (DCA)
Cathy Salas (SFO)
Jeanne Kidwell (DFW)
Greg Bridges (IDF)
Angela Furtado (DFW)
Jeffrey Ewing (DFW)

The A319 was certified with an FAA minimum crew of three Flight Attendants. AA’s newest aircraft begins official service out of DFW on September 16, 2013. The next new A/C arrival is the Airbus A321T with a tentative delivery/certification date of November.

FAA Manual Audits
The FAA will be conducting manual audits in the following bases:
ORD August 28th – 29th
SFO September 3rd – 5th
DCA/IAD September 9th – 12th

VEOPs and JetNet Access
When you first sign into JetNet after you retire, you will see something really strange. The default setting for JetNet shows as ‘Agent,’ so it will display Agent information.

To change your JetNet to Retiree; on the Home page go to the Home tab, and click on “Edit my memberships”. On the bottom right of that Edit page, you will see a “drop-down-box” labeled, “your default community”. In that box, select “Retiree Clubs and Organizations”. Then, click the “Finish” button on the top right hand side of the screen. The next time you log into JetNet, it will show you Retiree information.

New Secretary of Labor
Tomas Perez has been confirmed as the newly appointed Secretary of Labor. Secretary Perez, a civil rights lawyer, is known as a labor advocate who will “protect and defend worker’s rights – from collective bargaining to workplace safety to retirement security.” Sec’y Perez comes from the Justice Department where he played a key role in challenging voter ID laws in North Carolina and Texas. Prior to that he was Secretary of Labor for the state of Maryland. He also worked for Senator Edward Kennedy and served in the Clinton Administration under Attorney General Janet Reno.

AA-US Airways File Motion to Set Trial Date With DOJ

• AA-US Airways file Motion to Set Trial Date – 8.22.13
• AA-US Airways Press Release Announcing the Filing – 8.22.13
• Doug Parker Letter to US Airways Employees – 2013
• Tom Horton Letter to AA Employees – 8.22.13
• Joint Union Press Release Supporting AA-US Airways Motion to Set Trial Date – 8.22.13

Latest News On DOJ Lawsuit

• American, US Airways mounting fight to beat DOJ merger lawsuit (Los Angeles Times) – 8.23.13
• Lawmakers criticize merger lawsuit against AA and US Airways (Dallas Morning News) – 8.23.13
• PlaneBusiness Analysis of GAO Report on AA/US Airways Merger (Plane Business Banter) – 8.21.13
• Officials in 3 states fight suit against American-US Air merger (Reuters) – 8.21.13
• Letter to US Attorney General from Miami Mayor – 8.20.13
• Report: Texas pays nearly $4M so far to sue feds (San Antonio Express-News) – 8.20.13
• Some analysts still see good odds of airline merger (The Philidelphia Inquirer) – 8.20.13
• Abbott wrong to stop airline merger plan (Fort Worth Star Telegram) – 8.20.13
• Davis supports American/US Airways merger (Fort Worth Business Press) – 8.19.13

AmericanAirlines + US Airways
“MERGE”

Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator