03.22.06

Hello, this is Denise Pointer with an InfoRep Hotline message for Wednesday, March 22, 2006.

This past week, we have heard from many of you with regards to the uproar over the possible changes to Open Replacement. Last week, I sent out an email blast that addressed some of the concerns. That information was again repeated in the APFA general hotline. InfoReps please print the email blast and carry it with you on your flights.

As I am writing this Hotline message, APFA’s Executive Committee is meeting at the short SFO layover hotel. The meeting began on Monday the 20 and will continue on through this evening.

During the last two weeks there has been a flurry of activity in Congress. To recap, 2005 ended with both chambers passing pension legislation, but only the Senate version included the airline specific language that we need to protect our defined benefit pension plans. Recently, three events took place concerning this legislation.

1) The conferees from both the House and Senate were appointed

2) A “Dear Colleague” letter went out asking all House members to contact the House conferees in support of the Senate Airline Provision.

3) On March 8th, the House of Representatives approved a “motion to instruct” directing the House conferees to accept the Airline Provision as written. While not binding, this is a huge boost for our efforts.

Our work is not done. Conferees have begun meeting but the airline provision will probably not be discussed until next week when Congress returns from recess. It is crucial that our elected officials in Washington are fully aware of the importance of this section of the Senate bill and that they make sure it is included in its entirety!

A letter is now available on the APFA Web site for flight attendants to automatically send to their representatives and senators urging them to contact the Pension Reform Bill Conferees. Specifically, that the Senate Airline Provision be made part of the final bill. Please send your letters and encourage your flying partners to do the same. We’ve made it a very easy process… Simply go to www.www.apfa.org. and click on the link.

Please print a copy of both the letters to the Senate and to the House of Representatives. Carry these copies with you on your trips. Mention these letters and their importance to your co-workers during your briefings on board the aircraft. Remember, this issue affects our cockpit crews as well.

Also on the Hill, the Committee on Homeland Security pushed through an improved Transportation Security Administration reorganization bill. Due to overwhelming Democratic support of the Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection and Cyber security markup, Chairman Daniel Lungren (R-CA) accepted five critical Democratic amendments aimed at improving our nation’s transportation security. One Amendment, which we have been fighting hard for, was offered by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). This amendment would reverse TSA’s recent decision to allow scissors and small tools to be brought aboard commercial aircraft. Thanks to all of you who sent letters to your Representatives. Those letters have made a difference.

Mark your calendars for the upcoming retirement seminars. Flight Attendant-specific retirement seminars are schedule in April for SFO and DFW. On April 18th Jill Frank Smoak and a Company Representative will be in SFO from 12 – 2 PM. It will be held downstairs in the Flight Service Training room. On April 20 they will be in DFW for two sessions, both in The Yandry Suite in Terminal C across from gate C2. These sessions are scheduled to start at 10 AM and 2 PM.

During May and June seminars are being planned in DCA, STL, BOS, LAX and possibly SAN. Specific dates, times and locations will be announced prior to bids for the months involved. These seminars may be the last time you will get to take advantage of Jill Frank Smoaks’ knowledge, so I would highly recommend you make plans to attend one of them! As I have mentioned previously, Jill will be retiring herself this June.

Last year APFA created a Vacation Trade Board to assist Flight Attendants in trading vacations. We know Flight Attendants post trade requests on the Board. What we do not know is whether this is useful for our members in actually finding someone to trade vacations. We are asking all InfoReps to conduct a straw poll as you are flying and ask your fellow co-workers if they believe the VC Trade Board is helpful or whether it should be discontinued. Please provide your feedback by March 31st. Email your opinions to [email protected].

A reminder from the APFA Health Department: as of January 1, 2006, pre-funding will not be waived after being on an unpaid status, sick or IOD. Also we are seeing many F/A’s who are waiving their Supplemental Medical. This important medical coverage is only $5.00 a month. If you waive it, you lose it and will not be able to get it back. You may reinstate your pre-funding when you return to work but it will be at a higher premium. Before dropping your supplemental coverage or not paying for your pre-funding, talk to an APFA representative first.

The Hotel department should be announcing a downtown layover hotel in Rome shortly. The review was completed last week and we are awaiting the results of final negotiations from the AA Hotel Contracts Department. APFA has been working hard to secure a FCO downtown property again.

As some of you may have heard, we had an incident at the Paris layover hotel that involved a burning candle in a crewmember’s room. This incident resulted in extensive damage to approximately 30 rooms in the hotel. Please use common sense when playing with fire in your hotel room!

And finally, we know we have a real challenge in HNL with the addition of the second crew layover hotel. We are aware of everyone’s opinions and are working hard to find a resolution to this issue. We will keep you updated as we continue our work on this.

Over the past few weeks, I have received several emails regarding furloughed Flight Attendants recall rights. Many of you want to know when the recall rights expire. Contractually, every flight attendant that has been inactive from AA for five years will be separated from the company, including those on furlough. As it stands today, the most junior AA furloughed Flight Attendants that were furloughed in October of ’01 will lose their recall rights in October of this year.

We are actively trying to build our email database at APFA. Some F/As have incorrect or no emails. We are asking our InfoReps to request that their coworkers forward their email addresses to APFA – [email protected] or that you forward their email address for them. You can even fax them to (817) 540-2077. All we need is a name, employee number and email address. We will then make sure their emails are on file at APFA. Your involvement in helping us build our APFA email base is invaluable. And if they’re interested in joining the InfoRep program, please ask them to include that information on their communication to us.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for your emails and phone calls. Remember, I am here to answer your questions and address any rumors you may hear. Please utilize the InfoRep system. It’s our responsibility to get factual information and carry it out on the line.

Again, thanks for all you do for the InfoRep program.

Denise Pointer, DFW InfoRep
InfoRep Program
1004 W. Euless Boulevard
Euless, TX 76040
817-540-0108 Ext. 8743
[email protected]