This is APA Communications Committee member First Officer Scott Shankland with the APA Information Hotline for Tuesday, February 10.

Today’s agenda included a finance and budget report by Secretary-Treasurer Captain Bill Haug. In his report, Captain Haug noted that APA has been spending heavily on essential information technology infrastructure and on legal counsel in response to management’s ongoing encroachments on the collective bargaining agreement. In response to Captain Haug’s presentation, the Board approved a motion to reduce the seniority defense fund from $5 million to $500,000. The Board had originally established the fund—which consisted of restricted assets that could not be allocated toward any other purpose—to protect our pilots in the event of any merger and acquisition activity involving American Airlines during last year’s consolidation craze.

Executive Administrator David Ahles introduced Ms. Dodi Mabry, APA’s newest contract administrator. Ms. Mabry’s American Airlines career spanned crew compensation, crew planning and crew scheduling, and her prior experience also includes a stint with Braniff Airways.

APA General Counsel Ed James conducted the bulk of his Board briefing in closed session due to the sensitive nature of the material, which included a discussion of self-help options available to APA at the expiration of cooling-off and an update on the status of pending litigation against American Airlines. Safety Committee Chairman Captain Mike Michaelis reported that the S80 fleet experiences the highest number of engine failures by far at American Airlines and noted that oil system problems are the leading cause of such failures. Captain Michaelis’ committee has been representing APA in the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations-led safety council, which approved an APA-sponsored resolution rejecting punitive action against pilots for unintentional errors. The CAPA safety council also affirmed an APA resolution stipulating that crewmembers should not be penalized when reporting safety hazards, including those that are fatigue-related.

American Beacon Chairman Bill Quinn updated the Board on recent developments concerning the pilots’ retirement plans. His presentation included a synopsis of the economic downturn, which he attributed to over-leveraging by U.S. consumers. Mr. Quinn noted that there was “nowhere to hide” with respect to the worldwide decline in the value of equities.

Pension Committee Chairman Captain Scott Schwartz summarized his committee’s mission as providing A-Plan oversight and member education, B-Plan asset allocation and manager selection oversight, and 401(k) plan monitoring. Pension Committee member First Officer Michael MacMurdy estimated that the pilot A-Plan is currently funded at approximately 90 percent, contrary to rumors that have circulated of a lower funding level.

The Board waived policy to continue in session past 5 p.m., recessed at 5:30 p.m. and will reconvene tomorrow at 9 a.m. All members in good standing are welcome to attend any open portion of the meeting, which is schedule to continue through Thursday.

MEMBERSHIP PREFERENCE SURVEY: The new membership preference survey is now active and accessible via the prominently displayed button on the members’ home page of alliedpilots.org through March 7. The survey should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

A few pilots have expressed concerns that it’s possible to submit multiple ballots—rest assured that is not the case. The system is designed so that pilots can return to the hosting Web site to amend or retake the survey, which then updates the pilots’ previous answers. Pilot identity is positively verified prior to accessing the site, thereby eliminating the possibility of multiple responses. Also, we have arranged for additional information to be added to the survey function buttons to clarify their application. These explanations should be helpful if you decide to return to the survey Web site to amend or retake the survey.

Your participation in this survey is an integral part of the negotiating process, so please remember to provide your feedback before the March 7 cutoff.

That’s it for today. Thanks for checking this hotline.