APA News Digest

Feb. 16, 2024

Editor’s note: Some links in this message will work best if you log in to AlliedPilots.org before clicking them.

In This Edition ...

Contract Comparison 2024

This is a new message from the APA Negotiating Committee.

The newly updated Contract Comparison is designed to provide factual comparisons on key contractual provisions between the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement and similar key contractual provisions in pilot agreements at Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue, and Spirit. It does not include unratified improvements of any TA or CBA.

We have broken this comparison into eight major sections:

  1. Pilot Statistics and Contract Durations
  2. Pay Rates, Per Diem, and Profit Sharing
  3. Other Pay Provisions
  4. Sick Leave and Vacation
  5. Work Rules
  6. Other Quality of Work Life Issues
  7. Scope
  8. Benefits

The Contract Comparison was developed with the assistance of the APA Economic & Financial Analysis Committee and is based on ratified pilot contracts as of January 2024. With comparator airline agreements yet to be achieved, there will be future updates accordingly.

We also add our thanks to the countless committee volunteers, subject-matter experts, and staff who contributed to the content and accuracy of this comparison.

Although extensive effort has been made to provide clear and concise descriptions of certain contract provisions, this comparison should not be considered a primary source of contract language, interpretation, or valuation, and is provided for educational purposes only. This comparison focuses on key areas of the contract and is not a comprehensive review of every term contained within the collective bargaining agreement.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to stay informed on your collective bargaining agreement.

Hotel Survey Auto Pop-Up

This is a new message from the APA Hotel Committee.

Survey data is very important to our committee’s work. Thank you to the many of you who fill out a Hotel Survey after each layover.

If the survey no longer pops up automatically when you open the APA Pilot app following a layover, follow these easy steps:

  • Tap the settings icon (cog).
  • Tap “Manage notifications.”
  • Expand “Survey.”
  • Tap the settings for “Hotel Survey.”
  • Tap the switch next to “Notifications.”
  • Tap the “x” or tap outside the dialog box.
  • Tap “Save.”

Please reach out to the IT Helpdesk at helpdesk@alliedpilots.org if these steps do not solve the problem. Thank you again for your time filling out hotel surveys!

For more information, see the QRH – Quick Reference Hotels document, which should answer 99 percent of all hotel and transportation questions while providing helpful solutions. Suggestion: Download this QRH document to your AA iPad for easy access in the future.

Next Contract Training Set for March 6-7

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 March 7 in PHL 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. It will be preceded by a four-hour IMAX session on March 6 with no Zoom component.

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.

Make Plans to Join Us at Sun ’n Fun

This is a repeated message from the APA Family Awareness Committee.

CA Tim Dick, FO Natalie Anagnostou, FO Tim Jackson, CA Jerry Gemma, and FO Melissa Monahan

The Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo, the biggest and best airshow in the southeastern United States, is coming up in April. We plan to serve two lunches and two dinners in our air-conditioned flightline chalet with private restrooms. Please bring your family!

Besides the food and fellowship, there will be significant information passed along. You can expect to break bread with APA’s elected officials as well as volunteers from national committees.

As you make plans to join us in Lakeland, Fla., please RSVP for each meal separately so we can be sure to order enough food.

Meanwhile, don’t forget about the Swamp Cabbage Fly-In, which will be held from 0900 to 1600 Eastern on Feb. 24 at X14, the airport in LaBelle, Fla., in conjunction with the annual LaBelle Swamp Cabbage Festival. The fly-in, which was organized by APA pilots, will feature static displays of warbird and vintage aircraft, food/beverages, and guests from Miami Air Traffic Control. This is a great event for the whole family! If you have questions, send them to swampcabbageflyin@gmail.com.

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, B737 aircraft 3SS has been written up seven times and out of service four times for the left engine generator. It was most recently signed off on Feb. 13 and is restricted to Class 1 and 2 maintenance stations.
  • Since Jan. 11, the left engine thrust reverser on A321 aircraft 975 has been written up eight times and out of service five times. It most recently returned to service on Feb. 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 Feb. 13: Matthew Abbott, Michael Anderson, Jose Avendano Jr., Brandon Badders, Milenko Bandur, Nathan Bearden, Casey Cardwell, Gustavia Cartwright, William Coggan, Joshua Crowell, Adam Dentinger, Michael Emmert, Emily Farris, Cameron Ford, Ariel Goldshmidt, Paul Goossen, Daniel Haines, Joshua Hartig, Bud Heath, Jonathan Holland, Craig Hollis, Cody Hudock, Benjamin Keefe, John King, Andrew LaBrecque, Alex Larson, Jon Lee, Pooja Lucas, David Meyer, Allison Miller, Charles Mohler II, Keith Moran, Jack Mullen, Gregory Norman, Kevin Parker, Nathan Pochomis, Nathaniel Redden, Jason Redlin, Corey Reed, Alexander Rhodes, Ryan Rockafellow, James Ryan, Abanoub Shehata, David Shnipes, Jeffrey Souza, David Sprick, Jeffrey Sternberg, Sean Tingley, Tyler Tracy, Anthony Tran, Jarrod Vines, Shane Ward, Christopher Weston, and Michael Williams.

APA Welcomes Captains’ Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On Feb. 14, 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: Justin Burby, Shelton Carpenter, Stephen Conley, Clayton Curnutte, Ashraf Dakwar, Yuhan Feng, Evan Gall, Jeffrey Gordon, Jon Gunlock, Renee Hudspeth, Alan Jagiello, Erwin Jocson, David Klein, Thomas Kudlek, Joseph Lagrone, Garrett Michel, Michael Milazzo, Christopher Miller, Bradley Mills, Nicholas Moritz, Kyle Ozi, Philip Sevenz, David Smith, Ryan Vellanoweth, and Richard Williams.

APA Holiday Schedule

APA headquarters, including Contract Administration, will be closed on Monday in observance of Washington’s Birthday, aka Presidents Day. Contract Administration will be open from 0700 to 1900 Central on Saturday and Sunday.

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.

Domicile Events

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

  • DCA: Retirement Party on June 29
  • DFW: Domicile Meeting on Feb. 27; Pilots For Kids Golf Tournament on May 20; Texas Rangers game on Aug. 6
  • LAX: Family Awareness event at Camas Airport on April 23; Family Awareness event at Boeing Museum of Flight on April 24; Family Awareness event at Rowland Freedom Center on April 25; Retirement Party on April 27
  • LGA: New York Mets game on Sept. 2
  • ORD: Concourse Conversations on March 1; Chicago Blackhawks game on March 2; Retirement Party on May 4
  • PHL: Domicile Meeting on March 6; IMAX Training on March 6; Contract Compliance Training on March 7

Week in Review

Here are several 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 (2)
    • Disabled Pilot Awareness Subcommittee (3)
    • Human Intervention Motivation Study Subcommittee (1)
    • Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee (2)
    • Project Wingman Subcommittee (3)
  • Captain’s Authority Committee (2)
  • Communications Committee (0)
    • National Communications Network (7)
  • Flight Time/Duty Time Committee (1)
  • Grey Eagles Liaison Committee (1)
  • Jumpseat/Non-Rev Committee (1)
  • Scheduling Committee (5)
  • Training Committee (4)
    • Checkmate (1 on 777)

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

Professional Standards FAQs

Why isn’t management part of the Professional Standards Committee?
This is a peer-to-peer program. Correcting behavior through peer engagement and awareness offers a potentially permanent solution. Management fully supports the work of the Professional Standards Committee by providing vast resources and thoughtful input toward improving the process.

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 March 15 at SAN followed by April 26 at ATL. 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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