Contract Compliance Committee: Here for You

Communications Committee member FO Shalyn Marchetti wrote the following profile, one in a series highlighting national committees.

CA Jason Saxer and his predecessor as Contract Compliance Committee Chair, CA BJ West, answered pilots’ questions during the TA 2.0 road shows.

We’ve all heard about Contract Compliance, yet for some it may be a gray area. What exactly do they do for our pilots? Many of us have called the number and spoken to a Contract Administrator or a Contract Compliance Committee member. Any questions we might have, they are there for us. Whether it’s a reassignment, IROPS, or a family emergency that requires leaving a trip, Contract Compliance is the first stop for pilots. At least, it should be. 

For contract information, there are two components. There are APA Contract Administrators, and then there is the Contract Compliance Committee. It’s easy to confuse the two, but the difference is simple. The Contract Administrators are APA employees. The Contract Compliance Committee are volunteer pilots. These two groups work extremely closely together, with the committee even doing part of the training for the Contract Administrators.

As Contract Compliance Committee Chair CA Jason Saxer says, “Contract Administrators don’t work FOR us, we work WITH them. There is a near-constant stream of questions, so there must be open communication. Knowledge is always being shared both ways.”

But it’s not just Contract Administrators and the committee working together. The Contract Compliance Committee works with all of APA. “Coordination is huge between committee members and the rest of the building,” CA Saxer said. Even when it came to negotiating our new contract, the Contract Compliance Committee played an active role. Former Contract Compliance Committee Chair CA BJ West serves as a Negotiating Committee member, and CA Saxer frequently found himself present at the bargaining table during Section 6 negotiations. “It’s vital that we are a part of the process, so when we implement a new CBA, we can explain it to the membership,” he said. And who better to have working for our new contract than those that answer the questions the pilots have daily? 

Contract Administrators are in the building from 0700 to 1900 Central, seven days a week. You can reach them by calling 800-323-1470 and pressing Option 3, or by filling out the Contract Questions form. The Contract Compliance Committee fields calls outside of the Contract Administrators’ hours. American Airlines is a 24/7 operation, which means that the Contract Compliance Committee is a 24/7 committee. “For us, weekends at home don’t mean an end to the pilot group’s questions. We take the questions as we can and try to turn around an answer as quickly as possible,” CA Saxer said. “Sometimes getting the answer takes two minutes, and sometimes it takes two days, but we are committed to trying to be 100 percent accurate with our answers. That’s impossible, but I like to think we are certainly 99 percent accurate using our notes, contract interpretations, and past precedents. The entire Contract Compliance Committee will come to a consensus before we disseminate information.” 

One thing the committee loves from the pilot group? Informed callers. “If the pilots calling have a background base knowledge of what we’re trying to discuss, it makes it a lot easier. The Compass Documents are a good first step for answers,” CA Saxer said. And the committee has had a large hand in crafting those documents. “We worked in conjunction with the Compass Project Committee to build these. They are in a constant state of flux, but we’re working alongside Compass to ensure that these documents are modified and up to date with the contract and each LOA,” he said. “We built these documents so pilots could apply them. We’ve tried to make them easy to understand, just plain English on how the process works.” 

But the Contract Compliance Committee understands that those documents aren’t the end-all, be-all to contract questions, and cannot cover every scenario. And that’s when they come in. “Even if you think you solved the question with the Compass documents, don’t be afraid to give us a follow-up call,” he said. “Or perhaps your question is more specific than what the documents provide. Call us. That’s what we’re here for.” 

As the committee’s page on AlliedPilots.org states: “The Contract Compliance Committee’s goal is for you – the membership – to be informed, educated, and knowledgeable. Knowledge is power, and it will assist you in employing and being a watchdog of your negotiated work rules.” Perhaps CA Saxer puts it even better: “At Contract Compliance, we want 15,000 contract experts. Whether it’s just entry-level experts or full-blown experts, if you don’t know the answer, we’ll provide it.” 

With the new collective bargaining agreement, be on the lookout for upcoming Contract Compliance Committee training sessions — one of the many benefits of APA membership.

FO Paul Leonardi, CA Jim Cowee, and CA Jason Saxer are all longtime volunteers on the Contract Compliance Committee.