APA News Digest

June 7, 2024

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In This Edition ...

APA Board of Directors: June 3-4 Special Meeting Highlights, Summer Meeting Set for July

The APA Board of Directors met at union headquarters on June 3-4. Among the actions the Board took during this special meeting:

  • APA’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025: During discussion of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, Secretary-Treasurer FO Pat Clark recounted the motion the Board approved during its spring meeting to allocate funds from the union’s general reserves to the budget. He noted that with the allocation factored in, APA’s reserve balance would remain around the midpoint between the minimum and maximum levels required by policy.
  • Four-Month Member Dues Holiday: The Board approved a motion directing the Secretary-Treasurer to grant the membership a four-month dues holiday “at the soonest possible time in 2024.” DCA Domicile Chair CA Chris Wachter, sponsor of the motion, said that “as fiduciaries, our duty is to use dues money wisely.” He noted the union’s general reserves have grown to a sufficient level to justify returning funds to members, with the dues holiday projected to return at least $15 million. Board Steering Committee Chair FO Jason Gustin characterized it as an example of “doing the members’ work.”
  • Proposed Changes to Domicile Officer Term Length and Limits: The Board approved R2024-12 Rev 1, “BOD Term Length and Limits,” which calls for modifying the term length and limits for Domicile Officers in Article VI, Section 4 of the APA Constitution and Bylaws. Per Article XIV of the C&B, “Amendments to Election or Recall Procedures for National and Domicile Officers passed by an affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the Board of Directors will be subject to approval by the membership by way of a referendum ballot.” Click here for more details and to cast your vote.
  • Preparations for Contract 2027: The Board approved a motion directing the Executive Director, in consultation with the President and Senior Director of Legal Affairs, to begin preparing to supplement existing staff in the Negotiating Department in preparation for Contract 2027. The Negotiating Department expansion is slated to include two additional attorneys, a negotiating coordinator/admin, and an economic and financial analyst.
  • The Line Forums: The Board, National Officers, and APA Legal reviewed the status of The Line and discussed the concerns that resulted in the forum’s recent suspension. The President’s decision to suspend The Line remains in effect, with the Board planning to continue discussing the topic during its summer meeting.

The Board will convene 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.

APA’s Focus on Professional Development

CA Clint Early, FO Shay Marchetti, CA Andrea Hoover, and FO Howard Kwon represented APA this week at the Professional Asian Pilots Association Expo in Las Vegas.

Ongoing professional development represents a vital element of the APA Strategic Plan and a high priority for your union.

APA invests a significant amount of time and effort to ensure the pilots working on the membership’s behalf have the tools they need to be effective. Numerous national committees conduct recurrent training to ensure their members are well versed in current best practices. In particular, the committees and subcommittees charged with handling highly consequential, sensitive situations — including the Professional Standards Committee, the Project Wingman Subcommittee, the Critical Incident Response Program Subcommittee, and the Safety Committee Go Team — undergo regular, rigorous training to ensure their skills stay sharp. The entire APA negotiating team, including the Negotiating Committee and Negotiating Department, receives periodic, in-depth training at Harvard University. Whether a committee focuses on issues with professional or personal implications, or both, we want those volunteers to have what they need to serve you effectively.

We’re experiencing a generational shift in our ranks, with a high rate of pilot retirements and a steady influx of new-hire pilots. APA has responded by sharpening its focus on recruiting and mentoring the next generation of pilot leaders, and by expanding its member services. We want to continue fostering great First Officers and Captains!

We’re all familiar with the adage about unionism not being a spectator sport. With that in mind, we urge all APA members to consider serving in some capacity during your career as an American Airlines pilot. Each week, the APA News Digest features a link to the Member Engagement Portal and lists all vacancies on national committees and subcommittees. Please review these vacancies to see if there is an opportunity that matches your skills and interests. You may also contact your domicile representatives to explore opportunities to serve at the domicile level.

The amount of talent and drive that resides in our pilot group is remarkable. Let’s make the most of it for the good of all concerned with APA and American Airlines.

Positive Rate Episode 25: Family Navigation

In the latest episode of our “Positive Rate” podcast, Communications Committee Deputy Chair FO Melissa Monahan talks with FO Kailey Gonzalez and CA Marc Needham about how the Compass Project Committee’s Family Navigation team helps pilots and their families navigate issues that arise when expecting or adopting and taking family leave. Family Navigation pairs each pilot with a sponsor whose family experience and geographic location align with theirs to help ensure the best match.

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.

APA Medical Minute – Benefits of a Primary Care Physician

In the latest edition of the APA Medical Minute, APA Medical Advisors Manager Marsha Reekie addresses the benefits of having a primary care physician, including referrals to specialists as needed and the ability to identify and address family history-related risks such as diabetes and hypertension.

APA Contract Minute – Deadhead Clarification

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 discusses the deadhead clarification, which requires the company to build all deadheads within the applicable Table B, Table C, or maximum reserve duty period.

Be Mindful of Your FDP Limits

This is a new message from the APA Flight Time/Duty Time Committee.

With the airline operating at a highly strained capacity, the opportunity for Part 117 regulatory issues is increased. While FOS does an excellent job calculating 117 legalities, like any other system, it is only as good as the information it receives for calculation. One area where there is room for error is when the first segment of an FDP is delayed or amended.

Once the 10-hour 117.25(e) rest period has commenced (the 10 hours immediately preceding sign-in), this time cannot be changed. TThe FDP must start as planned – even if for only one minute of duty, to indicate a break in the rest period – while having contact with the certificate holder for the purpose of revising the FDP. This will require a manual entry by Crew Scheduling/Crew Tracking indicating a “S/I” time that may be well before the 30 or 60 minutes prior to your revised first segment. This data entry is important because it will cause FOS to “start the clock” on your Table B/C calculation, thus reflecting the proper limits on your FDP. Failure to do so will cause FOS to begin those calculations at 30/60 minutes prior to the first segment rather than at the original start time, likely resulting in an incorrect reference point when calculating FDP limits.

We’d also like to use this opportunity to remind our pilots of our responsibilities regarding the REMAIN column of the HI117 document. The HI117 is your best reference for all 117 legalities and can be a useful tool if being “pushed” by the station to try and make your MOT. Remember that FOM 4f.3.1 prohibits departing the gate if any row of the REMAIN column has a negative value. If approaching your MOT, it is helpful to consult your HI117 to ensure you remain FOM-compliant by not establishing an OUT time once any negative REMAIN value is indicated.

Please contact your APA Flight Time/Duty Time Committee at FTDT-help@alliedpilots.org if we can be of further assistance.

Pilot Ensured He Didn’t Miss His Own Party

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

CA Kent Krizman and his family

Fini Flight is an APA program designed to honor our retiring members. If a pilot chooses to participate, we meet them at the gate after (or sometimes before) their final flight as an American Airlines pilot. We include friends and family, play some music, bring a cake, and make their last flight memorable!

CA Kent Krizman was honored on May 3 before Flight 285 left LAX for LIH. He was accompanied by his wife, Marisa, and their sons, Ashton and Raphael. But things didn’t go exactly as planned.

The Krizmans were supposed to commute from SFO to LAX on an AA flight that was delayed. To ensure that he didn’t miss his final trip, CA Krizman borrowed a friend’s Cessna Citation and flew his family to LAX in that aircraft.

You can see more photos from Fini Flight celebrations in May on APA’s Facebook page. For more information on how to get involved, as an honoree or as a volunteer, email finiflight@alliedpilots.org.

YOUnion 101 on June 12

This is a repeat 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.

July Bidding Reminders

This is a new message from the APA Hotel Committee.

As a reminder, all CDG layovers will be at the airport from July 7 through Sept. 8. Please bid appropriately. 

Hotels in the bid packages are not necessarily accurate, as the bid packages are published ahead of the hotel allocations. Your Hotel Committee recommends not bidding solely based on a hotel in the package. 

If you were awarded or assigned a TDY for the month of July, you have until 1200 Central on June 13 to tell the company whether you would like a long or short company-assigned hotel room or if you would like to choose the “TDY Hotel Waiver,” which will pay you $2,000 in lieu of a hotel room. You should have received a CCI message today with a link to make your selection.

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 repeat message from the APA Strike and Tactical Operations Planning Committee.

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.

Expediting Our Pilots’ Return to Work: How You Can Help

The APA Medical Certification Working Group Ad Hoc Committee sent the following message to all members on Thursday.

APA President CA Ed Sicher established the Medical Certification Working Group (MCWG) Ad Hoc Committee in November 2023. CA Greg Price is the committee’s chair, and CA Bill Evans, CA Andre Haith, and CA Michael Phelan are the other members.

The committee’s primary mission is to advise and assist the APA Government Affairs Committee with the following:

  • Identifying the issues within the FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM) that cause unnecessary delay and uncertainty for our pilots who have been denied or deferred their First-Class Medical Certificate.
  • Developing, sponsoring, and supporting the passage of legislation and appropriate regulations to facilitate change at AAM and expedite the return-to-work process.

The primary issues are a lack of timeliness and transparency within the AAM’s medical certification deferral and denial process. All too often, APA pilots wait six months or longer to receive a decision, and some have waited decades. Obviously, this represents a tremendous financial and emotional burden for affected pilots, and it also creates a reluctance among active pilots to seek medical care, given the difficulties involved in regaining a First-Class Medical Certificate.

During the past year, we have seen progress in raising awareness of these issues, and the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Bill includes two sections (sec 411 and 413) that address some of the problems within the medical certification process. That noted, meaningful change will take time. MCWG is committed to ensuring our pilots can be confident they will receive fair treatment when they encounter a medical condition impacting their First-Class Medical Certificate.

In support of these efforts, MCWG is asking pilots to provide a summary of the issues they have experienced with the FAA while seeking to regain their First-Class Medical Certificate. Please send your testimonials, or any questions you may have, to MCWG@alliedpilots.org.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to expedite our pilots’ return to work.

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 May 13, A321 aircraft 542 has been written up five times and been out of service four times for nose landing gear not up and locked. Under a special flight permit, a line crew recently flew it with gear down to a maintenance base for repairs. It was most recently signed off on June 7.

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 June 4: Ioannis Adamis, Donald Apelo, Alexander Baker, Derrick Block, Andrew Boyd, Sean Claggett, Lucas Coston, Andrew Crispin, Gregory Curtis, George Davis III, Daniel De Souza, Logan Dibiasio, Adam Ediger, Mark Ellis, Benjamin Ernst, Garrison Erwin, Ariel Gonzalez, Justin Grieve, David Gross, Victor Javaux, Patrick Lussier, Jesse McAninch, Kelly McGowan, Michael Milas, Anthony Monaro, Bryan Newbold, Luis Nino, John Nygard, Jacob O’Donnell, Ryan Olish, Justin Paige, Kyle Parker, Lajos Pelikan Jr., Mark Ramos, John Reichert IV, Erik Rheinhart, Kyle Schneider, Hashim Shawa, Jeremy Simmons, Ellis Taylor, Christopher Vander Zanden, Joshua Vincent, Daniel Volk, Gerald Weaver, and Michael Wiedl.

APA Welcomes Captains’ Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On June 5, 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: Jon Bepko, Carlos Castro, Rebecca Conger, Taylor De Ley, Christopher DeLong, Michael Galante, Edgar Galvis, Kim Grummitt, Paul Herriott, Denver Hill, Harold Johny, Christopher Liddle, Robert Martin, Jay Coleman O’Donnell, Michael Pauken, Christopher Ramirez, James Spencer, Paul Van Rosmalen, Steven Webb, Kevin Wehrer, and Adam Welch.

Domicile Events

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

Also, save the date for these upcoming commuter events:

  • AUS: Gathering at Easy Tiger on June 21
  • BNA: Nashville Soccer Club game on June 22
  • ATL: Gathering at Atlanta Golf & Social on June 23

Domicile Elections

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

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

Can a previous, resolved submission to Professional Standards be referenced in a future action?
No. A resolved issue cannot be used to support other disciplinary actions. An agreement exists with management that Professional Standards referrals are never part of an employee’s permanent record. Professional Standards volunteers will never be asked to relate any case information in the employee discipline process. Confidentiality rules apply to management also. Once an issue is released to the Professional Standards program, it is as if management “forgets” the issue ever occurred.

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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