APA News Digest

Jan. 19, 2024

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In This Edition ...

APA Board of Directors to Meet Next Week

The APA Board of Directors will be at union headquarters next week for its winter meeting. The meeting is scheduled to convene at 0900 Central on Monday, Jan. 22, and continue through midday on Thursday, Jan. 25. Click here to review the agenda, which calls for the Board to consider resolutions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In accordance with Section 2.01.E of the APA Administrative Manual, “The Executive Office staff shall ensure the membership is notified of all pending resolutions, with a link to the resolution page on the APA website.” The 29 open resolutions can be reviewed on the Resolutions webpage (Quick Links > Board Meeting Information > APA Board Resolutions).

New Parents Can Count on Our Family Navigation Team

This is the latest in a series of articles highlighting the work done by APA’s national committees. Read the rest on our Armed With the Facts webpage.

With so many new pilots joining the ranks at American Airlines, we are seeing more need for information about family planning. While adding to your family is a very exciting time, it can also be stressful. That’s why the Compass Project Committee is here to help each step of the way.

The Compass Project features a Family Navigation Team whose goal is to reassure pilots with young children that they have support at this stage of life. The Family Navigation Team is led by FO Kailey Gonzalez.

“My primary role is to ensure our pilot group has the resources needed to answer their questions and concerns,” FO Gonzalez says. “I help find ways to bring awareness to our pilot group that not only do we exist, but to also let them know that they have options, and they are not alone as they navigate those options.”

Click here to review some of the specific ways the Family Navigation Team can assist new parents.

Check Out Our Updated Resources

This is a new message from the APA Retirement and Benefits Committee.

Your Retirement and Benefits Committee has updated several documents and tools to assist pilots in planning for the new year:

  • The Pre-Retirement Checklist has been updated with new links and health care information.
  • The LTD Monthly Income Calculator has been updated with the new pay rates effective Jan. 1, 2024.
  • The 401(k) Limits article has been expanded to include scenarios for pilots of various ages and seats.

These can all be found on the top of the Retirement and Benefits Committee’s page on AlliedPilots.org.

Help wanted: The Retirement and Benefits Committee is actively looking to add volunteers. Although all pilots are welcome to apply, we are seeking those with a Certified Financial Planner© or Accredited Investment Fiduciary© designation and experience. Those interested can apply through the Member Engagement Portal.

Next Contract Training Set for Feb. 1

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 Feb. 1 in DCA 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.

Pigs 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.

  • In the last month, the elevator and aileron computers on A320 aircraft 647 have been written up nine times, been on MEL twice, and been out of service seven times. At the time of this writing, it remained out of service.
  • In the last three weeks, the flight management guidance computer on A321 aircraft 182 has been written up seven times and has been out of service four times. It was most recently signed off on Jan. 14.
  • In the last month, the digital flight data recorder on A319 aircraft 737 has been written up 12 times, been on MEL four times, and been out of service six times. It was most recently signed off on Jan. 16.

APA Welcomes New Pilots

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

The APA Membership Committee welcomed the following pilots during a casual dinner on Jan. 16: Javier Abalo Pineiro, Cody Anderson, Edi Avdic, John Balestrine Jr., Andrew Bradley, Dominik Buszek, Thomas Byrd, Justin Cedarleaf, Gregory Chase, Stephen Ching, Alexander Crew, Steven Dembkowski, Zachary Derkatch, James Dolson, Brystal Duppstadt, Stefan Edmiston, Ruben Gamero Aleman, Benjamin Gillian, Rafael Giraldo, Dasia Gorbea, Ajay Grover, Clark Hall, Joseph Hall, Nicholas Hargraves, Joseph Heintz, Steven Henderson, Daniel Holliday, Sky Lesh, Mark Lier Jr., John Lohr Jr., Timothy Miller, Ryan Mitchell, Norman Montgomery Jr., Ricardo Morales Jr., David Nickels, Luis Ortega, Michael Parrish Jr., Charles Paul, Christopher Rusciano, German Schindler, Casey Shotwell, Gavin Singh, Matthew Sinibaldi, Elliot Smith, Kevin Smith, Ananya Tafesse, Jeremy Taylor, Erik Van Osten, Brandon Vanderschaaf, Jessica Velasquez, Casey Walker, and Joshua Yeaste.

APA Welcomes Captains’ Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On Jan. 17, 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: Anthony August, Alessandro Baretta, Jarod Biehn, Mark Cameron, Martin Clarke, Kenneth Compher, Allen Dallas II, Frederick Evans, Lewis Gillett IV, David Gray, Derrick Harris, Jaime Hernandez, Cory Jeffers, Keaton Johnson, Thomas Kovac, Bradley Mertes, Camilo Monroy, Heather Morsie, Robert Neff III, Gregory Nix, Robert Norris, Eduardo Soto, Colin Stepney, Russell Wippenbeck, and James Woodburne.

Retirements in November and December

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

We would like to recognize and congratulate these pilots who retired in November and December.

BOS: CA Mark Beatty and CA Forrest Bornkessel

CLT: CA Cynthia Abbott, CA John Anderson, FO James Augspurger, CA Campbell Barnett, CA Jeffrey Cairns, CA Glen Dominy, CA William Dye, CA John Gowdy, CA Timothy Hartney, CA Steven Heinz, CA Christopher James, CA Brian Johnson, CA Arlington Johnson III, CA Randy Keever, FO John Kinneer, CA David Kratzer, CA Kenneth Potts, CA Jeffery Rausch, CA James Tatum, CA Troy Wheeler, and CA Kevin Young

DCA: CA Robert Cameron, FO Peter Lewis, and CA NB Pullen

DFW: CA Daniel Alexander, CA Christopher Allen, CA Timothy Barrett, CA Dwight Bouck, CA Mike Brown, CA Kerry Burklow, FO Randall Campbell, former APA Vice President CA Tony Chapman, FO Mark Chapman, CA Dale Churchill, CA David Davis, CA Brad Dusenbery, CA Martin Engelsen, CA Robert Etter, CA Howell Finch, CA Jeff Fisher, FO William Hopmeier, CA Gary Kaup, FO Kimberley Lowe, FO Russell Mading, CA Christopher Mortensen, CA Glenton Murdock, CA Richard Nelson, CA Brian Olson, CA David Perfetti, CA James Rabun, FO Jonathon Reibach, FO Ernest Seiffert, CA Guy Shellhouse, FO Charles Smith, CA David Strickland, CA Bruce Walls, former APA Vice President and DFW Domicile Chair CA Tom Westbrook, and CA Philip White

LAX: CA John Bruhn, CA Michael Chase, CA Bernard Clerx, CA Keith Daill, CA Kevin Hart, CA William Kaufer, CA Craig Kronfeld, CA Hugh Malone, CA John Morgan, FO Christopher Nordeen, CA Henry Putek, CA Robert Ray, CA David Stromswold, FO Richard Van Tassell, and FO Twain West

LGA: CA Larry Arken, CA David Ciabattoni, CA Larry Coleman, CA Michael Danley, CA Ronald Emerson, CA Walter Gershoff, CA Gregg LaPoint, CA James Myers, CA Kevin Reeves, CA Thomas Smith, and CA Brian Tighe

MIA: CA Frank Aichelmann, CA Bjorn Andreassen, CA Donald Bishop, CA Douglas Causey, CA John Dahl, FO Swen Ekstrom, CA Paul Hutchinson, CA Jok Jevizian, FO John Martell, CA Antonio Ochagavia, CA Jon Patrick, CA William Reed, CA Orestes Reina, FO Jeffrey Sturmthal, CA Richard Thiele, CA Tug Tura, and CA Ed Walker

ORD: FO Thomas Calcagno, CA Paul Carrubba, CA Andrew Caudill, CA Kenneth Compere, FO Maria Eberle, CA Timothy Eilts, CA Joseph Garinger, CA Linda Kuhn, CA John Reed, and CA Maralyn Wilchynski

PHL: CA Jeffrey Brough, CA Richard Burrus, CA Charles Fern, CA James Harrison, CA David Ray, FO Michael Rhea, CA Jeffrey Ryan, FO Rinaldo Vivarelli, and CA Jeffrey Yanus

PHX: CA William Brumitt, CA Paul Esterly, FO Timothy Hubbell, CA Paula McKinnon, CA Christopher McMillin, CA Donald Pelava, CA Mark Schulte, CA Nancy Wendel, CA John Wood, and FO Richard Woodward

Domicile Events

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

  • BOS: Telephone Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 23
  • DCA: Contract Compliance training on Feb. 1; IMAX training on Feb. 2
  • DFW: Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 24
  • LAX: Domicile Meeting at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 7
  • 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

CLT Domicile Election

Election Round ballots listing the following pilots in alphabetical order were mailed to all CLT members on Jan. 9:

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

They will be tallied on Jan. 31. The winner will serve as Interim CLT Domicile Chair through Oct. 31.

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)
  • 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

How do we add and who selects committee members?
The Domicile Officers are responsible for determining the number of and selecting the candidates for the domicile Professional Standards committees. Typical volunteers possess qualities such as maturity, empathy, peer respect, tact, and strict adherence to standard operating procedures and protocols. The APA President selects the national committee members from an approved list of recommended candidates.

To read all of the FAQs, click here.

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

FAA Seeks 737 Pilots for Study in OKC

The FAA is looking for 16 Boeing 737 captains with greater than 100 hours of HUD time and 30-day HUD currency to participate in a study of head-worn equipment. Pilots must be current and qualified in the B-737.

Dates are Feb. 8, 12-15, and 20-22. Location is Oklahoma City. Duty day is eight hours starting at 0730. Captains from the same airline will be paired as a crew.

Compensation is $1,000 plus hotel reimbursement of $110 per night, daily per diem of $48, and mileage reimbursement between 25 and 250 miles.

Interested pilots should send an email to btaeronautical@gmail.com.

FlightSafety Seeks New Instructors

FlightSafety International is seeking experienced pilots to work as flight instructors at its Dallas North Learning Center at DFW. A hiring event has been scheduled from 1100 to 1700 Central on Feb. 1. Click here to register.

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 Feb. 9 at DAL followed by March 15 at SAN. 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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