APA News Digest

Dec. 29, 2023

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In This Edition ...

“Positive Rate” Episode 19: APA Vice President CA Chris Torres

In the latest episode of our “Positive Rate” podcast, Communications Committee Deputy Chair FO Tami McBride speaks with APA Vice President CA Chris Torres about the status of “The Line” discussion forums and the efforts of the Governance and Reform Ad Hoc Committee.

Each episode of “Positive Rate” features various APA leaders and the subject-matter experts working on the membership’s behalf. The podcast is available through popular streaming services, including Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify – you can search for “Positive Rate” or “Allied Pilots Association” on your platform of choice to subscribe and download. Your first opportunity to listen will be via AlliedPilots.org/Podcasts.

We welcome your feedback on this format. If you have a question or a comment, please send it to Communications Director Gregg Overman via goverman@alliedpilots.org.

Jan. 12 Deadline: Ratification Bonus (LOA 23-002) and Your 401(k) Elections

The Company has confirmed that the second installment of the Ratification Bonus (RB2) will be paid on Jan. 24 by day’s end. This bonus will include 17% Company non-elective contributions.

The deadline for modifying your 401(k) employee and/or employer contributions on Fidelity NetBenefits is 1500 Central on Jan. 12. If you do not make any changes to your special election 401(k) contribution percentages before then, your existing special election percentages on file at Fidelity will be applied to your lump sum cash payout. If you have not done so already, we recommend consulting with your financial planner and tax advisor to make any desired adjustments.

One of the more frequent questions the APA Retirement and Benefits Committee receives is how various Internal Revenue Code regulatory limits interrelate to affect pilots’ 401(k) personal planning. Click here for an explanation of how the 2024 limits can assist with your 401(k) planning. As American Airlines highlighted in its recent update on this topic, the IRS limits the amount of compensation that is eligible for 401(k) contributions. The compensation limit for 2024 is $345,000. Once an individual receives $345,000 in eligible compensation during the year, no further employee or employer contributions can be made to your 401(k) account.

National Town Hall Meeting Set for Jan. 3

The APA Communications Committee sent the following message to all members on Thursday.

Your APA National Officers will host a National Town Hall Meeting via Zoom at 1600 Central on Wednesday, Jan. 3.

Click here to register for the Jan. 3 meeting. The following committees will be among the presenters:

  • The Grievance Resolution Committee will provide a summary of the recent grievance caucus that resolved nearly 50 grievances worth more than $800,000.
  • The Negotiating Committee and Joint Implementation Action Committee will provide an update on Collective Bargaining Agreement implementation.
  • The Scheduling Committee will provide an update on efforts to improve TTS functionality.

For those unable to participate live, we plan to upload a recording of the town hall to AlliedPilots.org/Videos after the meeting.

If your schedule permits, we strongly encourage you to make plans now to join us on Wednesday afternoon. As the outcome of our Section 6 negotiations so clearly demonstrated, membership engagement is critical to our success as a pilot group.

Participate in Concourse Conversations in January

FO Jimmy Deragisch, FO Howard Kwon, and FO John Fisher of the National Communications Network

APA’s National Communications Network will host four editions of Concourse Conversation in January.

  • MIA on Jan. 4 from 0800 to 1600, by La Caretta and D38
  • DFW on Jan. 9 from 0800 to 1500, across from C24 next to Pinkberry
  • JFK on Jan. 11 from 1500 to 2100, near the elevators by Starbucks
  • LGA on Jan. 12 from 0500 to 1200, at the bottom of the escalators in the AA terminal

These volunteers, along with your National Officers and Domicile Officers, will be in the terminals to gather feedback from the pilot group. They look forward to meeting with as many pilots as possible. If you’re scheduled to be at one of these airports on the listed dates, please take a few minutes to stop by and talk.

APA Holiday Schedule

APA headquarters, including Contract Administration, will be closed on New Year’ Day. Contract Administration will be open from 0700 to 1900 Central on Saturday and from 0700 to 1700 Central on New Year’ Eve.

As always, your APA support team remains available 24/7. When Contract Administration is closed, calls will be forwarded to a phone service operated by Contract Compliance Committee and Flight Time/Duty Time Committee volunteers. Please note that call-back times may be longer than normal due to limited staffing. If your call is not urgent, we encourage you to wait until normal business hours resume.

You may also want to consult the pilot volunteers on your domicile’s Contract Compliance Committee. Almost every domicile has one, and some of them have larger rosters than the national committee. Contact your local committee by visiting your domicile’s page on AlliedPilots.org and clicking the “Domicile Committee List” link.

To reach a contract administrator, call APA HQ at 1-800-323-1470 and press Option 3. If you prefer to e-mail your question to the contract administrators, click here. For specific FAR 117/fatigue issues requiring immediate attention, you can also call the Emergency Help Line at 682-738-6670 manned 24/7 by Flight Time/Duty Time Committee volunteers.

Get Educated About Our New Contract

This is a repeated message from the APA Contract Compliance Committee.

The Contract Compliance Committee wants to do everything we can to ensure that all APA members are well acquainted with the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Join us on Jan. 11 in LAX for a full day of training on the new CBA. This training will be conducted in hybrid fashion, with members welcome to participate in person or virtually via Zoom.

Please take a few moments before the training to familiarize yourself with the Electronic Document Index. You must be logged in to AlliedPilots.org for the links to be accessible. This Index connects you to a vast array of APA documents that we will reference. It is equally useful in the daily operation as a line pilot, so we recommend you retain the Index for future reference. During the training, it may be helpful to have two screens; one to run Zoom and one to reference these documents.

Help us help you! The Contract Compliance Committee’s goal is for you – the membership – to be informed, educated, and knowledgeable. Every single pilot should strive to be a contract expert or, at the very least, strive for continued learning and engagement. Knowledge is power, and it will assist you in employing and being a watchdog of your negotiated work rules.

Pig of the Week

APA commends American Airlines’ hardworking aircraft maintenance technicians for their outstanding work. We believe they are the best in the business. When repetitive problems do arise, they’re often due to managerial decisions that fail to properly prioritize tasks and to management’s decision to outsource a significant portion of the airline’s maintenance to offshore, third-party repair stations.

  • Since September, B737 aircraft 3HW has been written up eight times for “all lavatories will not flush.” It has been out of service eight times for the same reason. It was recently operated under a special flight permit to a maintenance base for repairs, where it remained out of service at the time of this writing. It is restricted to Class 1 maintenance stations.

APA Welcomes Captains’ Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On Dec. 27, the APA Membership Committee hosted a casual dinner for the following pilots who were in Fort Worth for American Airlines’ Professionalism, Leadership, and Mentoring class: Robert Anderson, Stephen Anim, Brandon Chaloupka, Jeffrey Davis, Ryan Fletcher, Matthew Hall, Derrick Harris, Daniel Helberg, Jonathan Hudson, Erwin Jocson, Brian Lee Jr., Arthur Lotz, Steven Monteiro, Brigido Natera, Steven Schulze, Sergio Taborda, Andre Turner, and Russell Vanhoozer.

Domicile Events

Click the image for a closer look.

A group of pilots who are based at BOS or reside in New England – or both – gathered at Hill Street Cemetery in Hampton, N.H., on Dec. 16 for a Wreaths Across America ceremony. Other BOS pilots and their families laid wreaths at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. APA members participated in Wreaths Across America ceremonies in cemeteries near all 10 of our domicile cities, plus BNA and STL. You can see more photos on APA’s Facebook page.

Visit AlliedPilots.org/Calendar to RSVP for any of these upcoming domicile events:

  • BOS: Telephone Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 23
  • DCA: Washington Capitals game on Jan. 16; Contract Compliance training on Feb. 1
  • DFW: Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 24
  • LAX: IMAX training on Jan. 10; Contract Compliance training on Jan. 11
  • LGA: Telephone Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 23; Winter Warmer event at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Jan. 26
  • PHX: Domicile Meeting on Jan. 26

Domicile Elections

Election Round ballots listing the following pilots will be mailed to all CLT members on Jan. 9 and tallied on Jan. 31:

CLT Domicile Chair
FO Russ Blackwell
FO Erik Knauff
CA Dan Scola

The winner will serve as Interim CLT Domicile Chair through Oct. 31.

The deadline to submit pilots’ names for the regularly scheduled DCA and DFW Domicile Elections was 0001 Central on Dec. 26. Pilots whose names were submitted have until 0001 Central on Jan. 2 to confirm that they are seeking nomination. Nomination Round voting will begin at 0000 Central on Feb. 10 and end at 1200 Central on March 1.

If you have any questions, contact the APA Elections Department via 817-302-2175 or elections@alliedpilots.org.

Week in Review

Here are a few recent messages you may have missed.

Are You Willing to Serve?

Each of these national committees or subcommittees has the indicated number of vacancies:

  • Aeromedical Committee (1)
    • Disabled Pilot Awareness Subcommittee (3)
    • Human Intervention Motivation Study Subcommittee (2)
    • Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee (2)
    • Project Wingman Subcommittee (3)
  • Captain’s Authority Committee (2)
  • Communications Committee (0)
    • National Communications Network (7)
  • Grey Eagles Liaison Committee (1)
  • Hotel Committee (3)
  • Jumpseat/Non-Rev Committee (1)
  • Retirement & Benefits Committee (2)
  • Scheduling Committee (5)
  • Training Committee (3)
    • Checkmate (1 on 777 and 1 on 320)

If you would like to serve on one or more of these committees, visit the Member Engagement Portal.

Professional Standards FAQs

Since the program is voluntary, can a person choose not to be a part of the program?
The Professional Standards Program is completely voluntary. If you are approached by a committee volunteer, it is your choice whether to participate. However, please remember the choice to not participate may lead to the company resolving the issue at their sole discretion.

To read all of the FAQs, click here.

Professional Standards’ 24/7 hotline: 817-402-2181

If You’re 50, Join The Grey Eagles

Are you a pilot for American Airlines, at least age 50, active or retired? Please join The Grey Eagles for food, fun, and fellowship. We offer cruises, conventions, monthly luncheons, retirement dinners, professional mentoring, and assistance to surviving spouses – all for a one-time lifetime fee.

Pilot Job Fairs and Future Pilot Seminars

Future & Active Pilot Advisors’ next Pilot Job Fair and Future Pilot Seminar are scheduled for Jan. 12 at MCO. Click here for more information.

Industry News

For more about what’s happening in the industry, be sure to visit the Industry News page on AlliedPilots.org.

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