APA News Digest

May 31, 2024

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In This Edition ...

AA Cuts Profit Forecast, Announces Executive Departure

On Tuesday, American Airlines cut its second-quarter profit forecast and also announced that Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja will leave the company in June. Stephen Johnson, vice chair and chief strategy officer, will assume Mr. Raja’s responsibilities and assist with the search for a new chief commercial officer. The airline’s revised revenue guidance contrasted with projections of record summer travel demand, with the TSA screening 2.95 million airline passengers on May 24 – the highest number ever for a single day.

“American’s trailing results are more than just a failed strategy to sell corporate tickets,” Communications Committee member CA Dennis Tajer said in a Forbes interview. “United and Delta have better long-haul international strategies. Vasu wanted a domestic and short-haul international airline and said our partners can take you long-haul. That’s not working.”

Wall Street responded by driving the stock down 13.5% by the close of trading on Wednesday, while analysts weighed in on the news:

  • J.P. Morgan: “Whatever reason lies behind the departure of American’s corporate architect, we’re increasingly interested as to whether any accompany[ing] strategic pivots may be forthcoming.”
  • Deutsche Bank: “Over the past several years, American has made some changes to its commercial strategy that many have viewed as aggressive (e.g., removing a sizeable portion of inventory from legacy distribution channels, making significant cuts to its corporate salesforce, and eliminating several corporate and agency programs/perks, among other actions) with the intent of achieving a higher percentage of direct bookings (lowest cost of distribution) and enhancing its direct relationships with its travelers.”
  • Jefferies: “It is clearer now (and in short order) that the strategy has not gone as planned.”
  • Bank of America: “The guidance cut seems to be a combination of both higher domestic competition (competitor fare sales and higher capacity) as well as a loss of corporate share given a de-emphasis post-pandemic.”

United Airlines quickly responded to American’s announcement by reaffirming its second-quarter earnings forecast.

APA Medical Minute – Cardiac Calcium Score Testing

In the second edition of our new APA Medical Minute video series, APA Medical Advisor Kathy Parr addresses the benefits of cardiac calcium score testing, characterizing the procedure as “ a quick, inexpensive way to detect coronary artery disease.”

APA Contract Minute – Overrides

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

CA Jason Saxer is back with a new edition of the APA Contract Minute. This time around, CA Saxer details the changes and additions to overrides in our contract.

Use Papyrus as You Navigate Summer Chaos

This is a new message from the APA Compass Project Committee.

The summer season has already brought inclement weather, delays, and cancellations, and a plethora of other challenges are likely on the horizon. We need to be ready to face these challenges. There is a very useful tool that can be used to find all the information you need to navigate irregular operations, schedule changes, hotel issues, reassignments, and RO, among many other things. This tool is Papyrus.

From your mobile device, access Papyrus through the APA Pilot app. Type a few keywords into the search box, and documents containing those keywords will be at your fingertips. With the integrated auto-synchronization, Papyrus ensures that you always have the most up-to-date documents. Best of all, all Papyrus content is available offline! We encourage you to take advantage of this great asset.

If you would like to learn more about the different resources available to you, visit the Compass Project page on AlliedPilots.org. Please contact our volunteers via email compassproject@alliedpilots.org or call 817-302-2401 with any questions you may have.

The APA Compass Project is an industry-leading pilot mentoring and support program. Compass offers one-on-one support from experienced line-pilot sponsors, as well as tutorial videos and an extensive database of stage-based documents covering a number of helpful topics that are beneficial to all pilots. Click here for more information.

YOUnion 101 on June 12

This is a new message from the APA Compass Project Committee.

The Compass Project and APA Vice President CA Chris Torres will host a “YOUnion 101” meeting via Zoom at 1100 Central on June 12.

YOUnion 101 is intended to be a “top off” for new hires, to explain the many services APA offers as well as opportunities to become involved in the union. It is designed for new pilots, but it includes information that benefits all members.

  • 1100 Central on Wednesday, June 12
  • What you and your family should expect from the APA
  • How you can engage and volunteer with the APA

Click here to register for the June 12 meeting.

Accident/Incident Hotline Enhanced Via Texts

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee’s Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee.

The smoke/odor/fumes extension for APA’s Accident/Incident Hotline has been updated with an automated text reply.

The hotline is staffed by volunteers from the Aeromedical Committee, its Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee, and the Safety Committee. These pilots will help guide you through multiple steps for your health and well-being, your crew and passengers’ well-being, the airline’s reporting requirements, and other potential actions relevant to your specific smoke/odor/fumes event.

Meanwhile, the automated text reply will send multiple messages to the calling number. These messages include hyperlinks for relevant checklists such as the smoke/odor/fumes medical protocols and the engine run checklist. The volunteer who answered your hotline call is listed, as are relevant union programs such as ASAP and CERS. This will provide quick access to resources you may need while working through a smoke/odor/fumes event.

APA’s Accident/Incident Hotline can be reached at 817-302-2154 or 800-323-1470; you should select Option 2 during a smoke/odor/fumes event. For more detailed information on smoke/odor/fumes, please visit the Pilot Occupational Health page on AlliedPilots.org.

Make Plans to Join Us at Oshkosh

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

CA Gail Jones was honored with a Fini Flight celebration on May 24.

One of our signature annual events, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, is coming up on July 22-28. Please keep those dates in mind as you bid for your July schedule. Our hospitality area will offer multiple opportunities to enjoy a meal with your fellow pilots, including union leadership.

One of the most familiar faces at Oshkosh over the years has been longtime APA volunteer CA Gail Jones, who operated her last flight as an American Airlines pilot last week. FO Shay Marchetti of the Communications Committee authored a tribute to the pilot affectionately known as “Mama G.” Click here to read about CA Jones’ service to APA.

TDY Hotel Accommodations

This is a new message from the APA Hotel Committee.

TDY bidding will open next week. All pilots who are awarded or assigned a TDY will receive a CCI message on the 7th of the month to notify them of the TDY for the following month. This CCI message will include a link to the “Pilot Hotel Preference and Waiver Page” where pilots can preference their hotel option. Pilots can select “Airport/Short,” “Downtown/Long,” or “TDY Hotel Waiver,” which pays the TDY pilot $2,000 in lieu of a company-provided hotel room. This selection needs to be completed by 1200 Central on the 13th of the month prior to the TDY.

AA is not able to wait until after PBS awards are published to make hotel assignments because allocations need to be accomplished prior to that point. If a pilot is awarded a TDY in a co-terminal location (i.e., JFK, LGA, EWR) the Flight Admin team will attempt to reach out to the pilot after the 18th to determine the most suitable option.

APA’s PBS 3XP is a great tool to determine what kind of line or reserve schedule your seniority can hold in a particular bid status and can help you determine which hotel option is the best choice for you.

If you bid for a TDY or are junior in a bid status with TDYs being offered, watch for a TDY assignment notification message in CCI on the 7th so you can properly preference for a hotel.

For more information, check out the recently updated QRH – Quick Reference Hotels document. This resource answers 99 percent of all hotel, transportation, and layover questions while providing helpful solutions. Suggestion: Download this QRH document to your AA iPad for easy access in the future.

Flight Attendants to Picket on June 13

This is a new message from the APA Strike and Tactical Operations Planning Committee.

The members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants will participate in a Worldwide Flight Attendant Day of Action on June 13 at more than 30 airports. If your schedule allows, please stand with our flight attendants on that day.

Do You Back the PAC?

This is an updated message from the APA Government Affairs Committee.

Your Government Affairs Committee maintains a constant presence in Washington, D.C., so we can talk to members of Congress about our legislative priorities. We are able to have direct access to members of Congress thanks to your voluntary contributions to the APA Political Action Committee.

Last month, 6,140 pilots contributed to the APA PAC. That number represented 38.5 percent of APA’s active members. Click the image below for a closer look at each domicile’s PAC contribution rates in February, March, and April.

Our Political Action Committee would be extremely well-funded if every APA member contributed as if his or her career depended on it – because it does.

Click here to back the PAC.

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.

  • Since April 17, B737 aircraft 3BK has been written up seven times for the right engine thrust reverser and has been out of service three times. At the time of this writing, it remained on MEL.
  • Since May 3, B737 aircraft 3FB has been written up six times for anti-skid, has been on MEL twice, and has been out of service four times. It was most recently signed off on May 26.
  • Since May 5, B737 aircraft 3AL has been written up seven times for an airspeed disagree and has been out of service five times. It was most recently signed off on May 26.
  • Since May 16, A321 aircraft 903 has been written up seven times for right engine bleed air and has been out of service five times. It was most recently signed off on May 26.

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 May 28: Jeremy Ackerman, Marco Antolini, Preston Bolan, Brad Boudreaux, William Burns, Aneesh Chegudi John, Marina Chesnokova, Jacob Coffey, Kevin Cronau, Luke Cvancara, Guilherme Dannemann, Joel De Gainza, Nicholas Emery, David Fechtel Jr., Lionel Fernandez Rodriguez, Bradley Field, Carlos Gallo, Patrick Geiger, Kyle Gentry, James Hunt, Javier Idarraga Zuluaga, Ian Johansen, Ryan Johnson, Andrew Johnson, David Kee Jr., Wesley Krahn, Taras Kuleba, Zachary McDowell, John Moran, Felipe Morejon, Matthew Naegele, Phillip Oppenheim, Oscar Patin, Curtis Patterson, Christopher Puckett, Martin Rechberger, Andrew Reuther, Jay Ryan Robinson, Dereck Rogers, Clive Rudd Fernandez, Duncan Sanders, Karl Savacool, Michael Schreiner, Justin Spears, Juan Tamariz, Tanner Thomas, and Daniel Yates.

APA Welcomes Captains’ Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On May 29, 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: Bobby Bayani, Michael Catherman, Jonathan Coker, Jose Davila Jr., Ricardo De Magalhaes Valmorbida, Arsh Dhillon, Edgar Galvis, Steven Hatcher, Kristoffer Heimberger, Ryan Kassik, Matthew Laakso, Shawn Lewis, Alfred Maldonado, Kevin Marshall, Eric Metcalf, Brandon Mongan, Marcos Nicolaidis, Tyler Olson, Pablo Paucar, Alfonso Restrepo, Oscar Roque, Austin Van Hise, Nitin Verma, and Austin Wood.

Retirements in March and April

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

We would like to recognize and congratulate these pilots who retired in March and April.

BOS: CA Robert Blake, CA Theodore Cutler, CA Michael Kastrinelis, FO James Myers, CA James O’Loughlin, and CA James Pavlik

CLT: CA Dennis Anderson, FO Kenneth Bonnell, FO Mark Brown, CA Bryan Cranford, CA Garry Foster, CA Stephen Gallant, CA Bryan Ison, CA Glenn Lebby, CA Mike Loy, CA Thomas McGuirk, CA Paul Myers, CA Raymond Myles, CA Robert Reifschneider, CA Jeffrey Reisenfeld, CA Eric Rodin, CA Hans Scott, and CA Janet Zweber

DCA: CA Peter Bouck, CA John Fox, CA Kenneth Pollock, and CA Timothy Robbins

DFW: CA Patricia Andrews, CA Dana Avery, CA Matthew Baker, FO William Binger, CA Thomas Blake, FO Marc Borkowski, FO Brian Brown, CA Kevin Buckrucker, FO Philip Chesworth, CA John Coleman, CA Mark Cook, CA Mark Curtiss, CA Jay Darling, CA Andrew Engelke, CA Steve George, CA William Harris, CA John Johnson, CA Jon Kelk, CA Kevin Little, FO Martin Mack, CA John Middleton, FO Mark Nasworthy, FO Robert Paulson, FO Mark Pugnale, FO Marc Russick, CA Kevin Sawchuk, FO Raymond Scott, CA Richard Thompson, and CA Susan Twitchell

LAX: CA Mark Clark, CA Curtis Fairchild, CA Steven Johnson, CA David Kelsberg, CA Keith Kunert, CA Erik Nielsen, CA Richard Norris, FO Lee Olivas, CA Robert Saylor, and CA Gary Taylor

LGA: CA Gerard Biasi, FO Steven Bort, CA Dana Darby, CA Andy Doyle, CA John Gorton, FO Peter Griffin, CA Ed Jasiewicz, CA Robert Johnson, FO Richard Joslyn, CA Dale Lind, CA Henry Riess, CA Tor Salbu, CA John Shegda, CA Karl Tower, CA Jonathan Towner, and CA Derek Williamson

MIA: CA Jose Blanco, CA Kevin Burns, CA Jay Cary, CA Norbert Cedler, FO Craig Czajka, CA Dennis Dobkin, CA Larry Edwards, FO Alexander Escola, CA George Gillespie, FO Andre Guillemot, CA Terence Higdon, CA Nicolas Jones, CA Kimberly Kenny, CA Bruce Leiseth, CA Rick Mattson, CA Brian Mueller, FO Timothy Popiel, FO David Purtle, CA Leonard Robinson, CA Brian Teigen, CA Glen Thompson, and CA Edward Youngling

ORD: CA William Abbey, FO Dale Banghart, FO Raymond Blust, CA John Fitzgerald, FO David Gilbert, FO Peter Kent, CA Frederick Krupp, FO Brent McGregor, CA Marlyn Moen, CA Greg O’Brien, CA Mark Orbell, CA John Roser, CA James Sisson, FO Paul Strickland, and CA Frank Treece

PHL: CA Don Day, FO Daniel Holmes, CA David Kinney, CA Lavern Meyer, CA Philip Reinford, and FO Paul Schneider

PHX: CA Steven Doss, FO Neil Gundelach, CA Anthony Holden, CA Merle Ledbetter, and CA Steven Stienstra

Former APA Vice President Retires

Former APA Vice President CA Patrick “Herman” O’Rourke flew as an American Airlines pilot for the final time this week. His family gathered at DFW on Sunday for a Fini Flight celebration after Flight 1521 arrived from STS. Before serving as vice president from 2019 to 2022, CA O’Rourke was a two-time member of the Negotiating Committee. He also served on the Communications Committee between his two stints as a negotiator.

APA Board of Directors to Convene for Special Meeting on June 3-4

The APA Board of Directors will convene at union headquarters for a special meeting on June 3-4. You may view the meeting agenda here.

APA Board of Directors’ Summer Meeting to Begin on July 22

The APA Board of Directors will convene at union headquarters in Fort Worth for its regularly scheduled summer meeting on July 22.

The meeting agenda will include a 60-minute Membership & Guest hour on the first day immediately following the APA President’s report. Policy stipulates that “Any APA member(s) in good standing or, with the consent of the Board, a guest of a member shall be allowed to address the Board. Allocation of time will be 60 minutes divided by the number of members/guests desiring to speak; however, no individual will be afforded more than 10 minutes, including any questions/ answers by the Board. Members and guests must advise the meeting Chair of their desire to address the Board.”

Please email asmith@alliedpilots.org if you wish to address the Board.

Domicile Events

ORD-based American and United pilots and their families gathered at Galt Airport in Illinois last Saturday for an annual pancake breakfast.

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

Also, save the date for these upcoming commuter events, details to follow soon:

Domicile Elections

Pilots based at CLT, LGA, and MIA will elect a Chair and Vice Chair to represent each domicile for two-year terms that will begin on Nov. 1. The electronic submission for nomination process will open at 0001 Central on June 7, and it will close at 0001 Central on June 28. For more information, visit the Elections page on AlliedPilots.org.

Week in Review

Here are some 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 (0)
    • Disabled Pilot Awareness Subcommittee (3)
    • Human Intervention Motivation Study Subcommittee (1)
    • Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee (2)
    • Project Wingman Subcommittee (3)
  • Captain’s Authority Committee (3)
  • Communications Committee (0)
    • National Communications Network (7)
  • Grey Eagles Liaison Committee (1)
  • Scheduling Committee (4)
  • Training Committee (5)
    • 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

Since the program is voluntary, can a person choose not to participate?
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 June 14 at JFK followed by July 12 at CLT. 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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