5.30.14c – (LAA) – 1114 Update, Pension Processing, 777-200ER 1L Jumpseat and Phone, AA/US Interim Jumpseat, EC Meeting, Hotel Update

1114 Update, Pension Processing, 777-200ER 1L Jumpseat and Phone, AA/US Interim Jumpseat, EC Meeting, Hotel Update…

 

1114 / RETIREE BENEFITS UPDATE – [email protected]
On Wednesday May 28, 2014, Judge Lane entered an order in the ongoing 1114 Committee Adversary Proceeding. This order formalized the Court’s earlier decision which denied AMR’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. That decision held that the company could not prove, without a full trial, that retiree medical benefits were not “vested.” As a practical matter, the May 28^th order continues the status quo: the APFA pre-bankruptcy retirees will continue to receive their retiree medical benefits unless and until the company convinces the court that benefits were not vested and that it can modify benefits unilaterally or by agreement with the 1114 Committee. The 1114 Committee awaits the company’s next action, and remains ready to fight for our pre-bankruptcy retirees’ medical benefits, under the terms they were promised when they retired.

APFA continues to negotiate with the company regarding the refund of the balance of our Prefunded Retiree Medical contributions.

1114 Retiree Medical Q&As:
1Q: At this point, can AA appeal the Court’s decision? 
A: In a normal federal case, a decision on partial summary judgment involving a declaratory judgment would not be appealable until after a full trial.

2Q: If AA goes to trial, how important will the CBA’s of each group be?
A: To win at trial, AA will have to show historical evidence regarding every group and prove for each there was no agreement to vest benefits. CBA’s would be a key piece of that evidence. It is fair to say American would face an uphill battle. 

3Q: In item #3, why change some BOD or officer responsibilities from “shall” to “may”?
A. When our Constitution was written more than 20 years ago, there were tasks that were expected to be performed on a regular basis. Over time, some of those tasks no longer need to be done automatically every year. For example, the Constitution states that the Board of Directors shall (must) review the APFA Policy Manual at every Annual Convention. The proposed change says that the Board “may” review the Policy Manual – but only if the need arises. 
 
4Q: Could AA try to negotiate separately with each group of retirees?
A: Separate negotiations are conceivable, but right now there is a single Retiree Committee representing the retirees collectively which is unlikely to enter into separate deals.

5Q: Will this decision affect the prefunding contributions made by the Company on behalf of Flight Attendants who are either still active or Flight Attendants who retired after October 30, 2012, when company-provided retiree health insurance was no longer provided?
A: The contributions made by the Company on behalf of Flight Attendants who are still active and those who retired after October 30, 2012, are intended to cover the retiree medical costs of these individuals. Negotiations with American continue to ensure the funds are either used for this purpose or returned to these Flight Attendants.

SAFETY AND SECURITY – [email protected]
AA issued an HI6 message on Wednesday regarding the use of the 777-200ER 1L cabin jumpseat and 1L FA interphone that was quickly retracted at APFA’s request. Flight Service has since apologized for the confusion created by this message, which stated that Flight Attendants should use neither the 1L jumpseat or 1L interphone during pilot rest breaks on long haul flights, except in an emergency.

TO BE CLEAR: Flight Attendants will not be restricted from the use of either the 777-200ER 1L cabin jumpseat or 1L interphone at any phase of flight. If a Flight Attendant should witness anything creating the restriction of use for either the 1L jumpseat or 1L interphone, the incident should be documented, a report to the Captain given, and if possible, immediate removal of the restriction. Flight Attendants should follow up with an AMR Event report.

Background: FAR 117 was implemented in January of this year with new federal regulations regarding flight deck crew duty time restrictions and required crew rest periods and requirements, including in-flight crew rest breaks. Under FAR 117, pilots are now required to submit fatigue reports if crew rest was interrupted or disturbed.

AA/US INTERIM RECIPROCAL JUMPSEAT – [email protected]
APFA, AFA and AA continue to work on an interim reciprocal jumpseat agreement that will allow AA Flight Attendants to utilize US Airways jumpseats and vice versa. The interim agreement will preserve the priority that currently exists at each legacy airline on flights operated on their respective aircraft. 

While we do not have a definitive implementation date yet, all departments realize this is an important benefit of the merger and we are working to ensure a roll-out prior to the end of June. We hope to have all the details ironed out, affected departments notified, and a firm implementation date available shortly. Stay tuned to this hotline!

PENSION PROCESSING – [email protected]
American and their outsourced HR firm, Mercer, have been working to speed up the processing of pension applications. Mercer has been able to get the processing of completed pension requests down to less than 30 days. As of this week, Mercer had less than 175 pension requests pending. Of course, if your pension request was incomplete (for example, if you failed to include a full copy of your divorce decree(s), or if your spouse did not sign the pension request), your pension request will sit unprocessed, until you complete the application.

BASE RETIREE REPS NEEDED – [email protected]
If you are interested in becoming a base retirement rep, please contact your Base Chairperson. APFA will be conducting training over the summer in an effort to replace the many base retirement reps who took advantage of the VEOPs! Training dates will be announced on this hotline.

UPCOMING MEETINGS – [email protected]
Executive Committee (EC) Meeting
The 1Q14 meeting of the APFA Executive Committee will be held June 3-4, 2014 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine TX.

All members in good standing are welcome to attend. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 09:00 on Tuesday June 3, 2014.

HOTEL – [email protected]
RDU – Flight Attendants will be using two new temporary long-layover hotels in June and will be doing a site inspection to contract with a new long layover hotel. Please email the Hotel Department with feedback regarding these hotels.

LHR LONG – At press time, all elevators are in working order. Please email [email protected] if you have further problems with this hotel’s elevator and include the date and elevator number.

GRU LONG – At press time, all elevators are in working order. Please email [email protected] if you have further problems with this hotel’s elevator and include the date and elevator number.

POA – Due to the last minute changes by the company to both the flying pattern and layover in POA, along with the beginning of the World Cup, APFA is working on contracting with a hotel for June. Crews will continue to stay at the current hotel through June 12th. APFA will advise the membership as soon as a contract is secured.

SJD – APFA has contracted with a new hotel in this market. Please visit the APFA Hotel Amenities page for more information.

MCO LONG – There will be a temporary relocation in MCO on June 1-2 due to an oversold situation. Please refer to the Temporary Relocation section on the Hotel Page or HIHTL in DECS.

INJURY ON DUTY (IOD) – [email protected]
Summer thunderstorms are approaching and this is the time of year that injuries occur due to unexpected turbulence.

If the captain has not advised the Flight Attendants to be seated and you are experiencing turbulence, TAKE YOUR SEATS IMMEDIATELY if possible. If that is not possible, sit on the floor and hold onto the leg of a passenger seat or luggage retainer bar or take a passenger seat if available. Make a PA and notify the captain.

Don’t wait for the captain to make a PA.

If you sustain an injury due to turbulence, it is imperative that you notify the captain that you have been injured on his/her aircraft and request that the turbulence be documented. It is important that you let the captain know that you will be seeking medical treatment.

Flight attendants must file an IOD report with your flight service manager as well as an AMR event report. The AMR Event report is located on the Fight Service page by clicking on Safety and Security.

A turbulence-related injury requires the captain to submit a report within 72 hours of the injury. A captain’s official report (P2) will be sufficient to substantiate the presence of “rough air.” In the absence of a captain’s official report, Flight Service is required to investigate IOD claims of rough air to determine the appropriateness of a designation of rough air. Parameters used for such determinations are set out in Article 26 letter IV of the APFA/AAL agreement.

If you seek medical attention for the turbulence related injury, you will need to use a Workman’s Comp Network doctor. See your base’s coinciding info below:
•   DFW/IDF call 800 800-3795
•   LAX,LAX-I, SFO 800 625-6588
•   ORD,STL 800 358-2072   
•   BOS,JFK,LGA,DCA 800 826-4338
•   MIA,RDU 800 548-1373
For more information, visit www.sedgwickproviders.com/aal.

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS – [email protected]
Kentucky Senate Race: Alison Lundergan Grimes vs Mitch McConnell 
Between now and the midterm elections, APFA Government Affairs will be highlighting critical races throughout the country. This week is look at a high-profile Senate race in Kentucky where the incumbent, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing off against Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic nominee. This race could play a determining role in which party controls the Senate for the next two years. 

Sen. McConnell has been in office since 1985. He and his backers are expected to raise and spend in excess of $100 million to try to hold on to his seat.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is a moderate Democrat currently running even in the polls. Most observers believe this will be an extremely close race. Grimes has defined herself as a solid moderate. She supports pay equity, increasing the minimum wage, gay marriage, and the organizing rights of unions.

The APFA PAC has supported Alison Lundergan Grimes and will continue to do so.  We encourage our members living in Kentucky to take a close look at this crucial race and remember to VOTE!

EAP – [email protected]
Clinical Depression is a common mental illness and affects more than 19 million Americans each year. It causes people to lose pleasure from daily life, can complicate other medical conditions, and can lead to suicide. A concern about depression is one of the most frequent calls the APFA EAP department receives. Depression can occur to people of any age, race, or ethnic group and is never a normal part of life. 

Although about 70% of individuals with depression fully recover with effective treatment, less than half seek treatment.  Mainly because they think it isn’t serious, they don’t want it to affect their ability to continue to work, or they believe is a personal weakness rather than serious mental illness.

Learn to Recognize the Common Symptoms of Clinical Depression
· Persistent sad or anxious mood
· Sleeping too much or too little
· Change in appetite which cause weight loss or weight gain
· Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment
· Difficulty concentrating or remembering
· Fatigue or loss of energy
· Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
· Thoughts of suicide or death

If you have five or more of these symptoms for two weeks or more, you could have clinical depression. Help is available. Call the APFA EAP department at (817)540-0108, ext. 8701 for confidential assistance.   

____________________________________
REMINDERS!

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS BALLOTING – [email protected]
Voting on the Constitutional Amendments is underway. The deadline to submit your ballot either online or via telephone is June 18, 2014, at 1000 AM Central Time.

•    Summaries of Constitutional Changes – 5.19.14
•    Markup of Constitutional Changes – 5.19.14
•    Constitutional Amendments Sample Ballot – 5.19.14
•    Constitutional Amendments Ballot Instructions – 5.19.14
•    Letter From the Board of Directors – 5.14.14

If you have questions about the content of the proposed Constitutional changes, please email [email protected].

If you have any questions about your ballot and/or how to vote, email [email protected].

Vacation Trade Bulletin Board at APFA.org
If you would like to trade your 2014-2015 vacation, APFA offers an electronic bulletin board at www.apfa.org to post your trade requests. Click here and follow instructions to post your requested VC trades.

APFA “Flyer” iPhone App
APFA’s Flyer App, Version 5 is available for download from APFA’s website. To download the app, click here.

APFA Website Update
If you’re an APFA member / pre-merger AA Flight Attendant, and don’t yet have access to APFA’s website, go to www.www.apfa.org and click on “Create An Account” under the Log In Form from the main page. Once you fill out the form, a verification email will be sent to you. Click on the specified link within the email, and you will gain immediate access to the members-only portion of APFA.org. Get to know it!

Staffing
Do you have a report concerning staffing-related issue and would like to submit data to APFA? Please email all details to [email protected]. This email is a no-response email. It is strictly used to collect data. If you have a scheduling or staffing question or issue, please email [email protected].

Share Your Photos
We continue to receive some great pictures from our members both on and off the plane. Please remember that in order for the photos to be useable, they must include the names and employee numbers of all Flight Attendants, as well as contact information (if available). Otherwise, the photos are unusable.

Photos may be incorporated in future APFA web and print projects, including upcoming issues of Skyword, press releases, our APFA New Hire guide and a welcome booklet for our future members from pre-merger US Airways. Please email your hi-res photos to: [email protected].

If you are emailing several high-resolution photos, please limit your photos to 3 per email as our server will block files over a certain size.

If you prefer to mail a hard copy, send to:
APFA Communications
1004 W. Euless Blvd.
Euless, TX, 76040

Photos must:

• Be the sole property of the sender. By sending in photos, you are giving APFA permission to use them in APFA communications.
• Contain the name(s), employee number(s) (if you can obtain your coworker’s employee number easily), email and phone number of each person in the photo in order to obtain permission to publish.
• Be tasteful in content.

AmericanAirlines + US Airways 
“On Our Way”

Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator