APA News Digest

June 28, 2024

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In This Edition ...

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.

During this meeting, the Board may address these pending resolutions:

Aer Lingus Pilots: You Have Our Steadfast Support

APA President CA Ed Sicher sent this open letter to the pilots of Aer Lingus on Thursday.

On behalf of the 16,000 American Airlines pilots the Allied Pilots Association (APA) represents, I am proud to pledge our steadfast support for the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association’s efforts to conclude CLA negotiations with Aer Lingus management. APA has a longstanding history of standing shoulder to shoulder with our Irish brother and sister pilots.

Like professional pilots across the globe, you sacrificed to help your airline navigate the challenges of the global pandemic. With the surge in air travel demand, you have watched as the airline’s profits have increased dramatically. Now, in response to the union’s calls to normalize pilot salaries to account for the increased cost of living, Aer Lingus management has instead chosen to employ whipsaw tactics and threaten legal proceedings. Management’s use of traditional strong-arm tactics such as pressuring pilots to fly when they have declared themselves not fit to do so poses a safety threat.

APA has a great deal of experience in dealing with a management team that refuses to recognize the value its pilot group provides. We stand ready to share our knowledge and experience with you and provide whatever assistance we can to support your efforts to successfully conclude your negotiations. It is in the best interests of all professional pilots, and the passengers we carry, to work cooperatively to elevate our profession and enhance the margin of safety whenever possible.

We are here for you.

In Unity,

Captain Ed Sicher
President, Allied Pilots Association

APA Medical Minute – Common GI Procedures

In the latest edition of the APA Medical Minute, APA Medical Advisor Tina Smith discusses common gastrointestinal procedures, such as the upper endoscopy and the colonoscopy.

Professional Standards Training Set for September

This is a new message from the APA Professional Standards Committee.

We plan to train new Professional Standards volunteers at APA headquarters on Sept. 10 and 11, with a Sept. 12 session for pilots who already volunteer on other national committees. If you would like to join us, email CA Pat McGinn via pmcginn@alliedpilots.org.

Sudden Grief Response Program to Train New Volunteers

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee.

The Sudden Grief Response Program (SGRP) Subcommittee is looking for volunteers willing to be trained in the last two weeks of August. SGRP provides the initial support structure to families in need during one of the worst times of their life by assisting the family and helping them understand the grief process. If you are interested, please contact FO Vern Reaser at vreaser@alliedpilots.org. The training date will be based on volunteers’ schedules. Thank you so much for wanting to be a part of this very valuable team at APA.

CIRP Subcommittee Leader Joins Group of Stress Experts

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee.

FO Jim Woodke has nearly 30 years’ experience in Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), a model pioneered by the founders of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. FO Woodke recently became the first line pilot appointed to the foundation’s faculty and speakers bureau.

The foundation provides training to individuals interested in becoming a part of a crisis management team and to organizations dedicated to helping individuals or groups recover from incidents. APA is one such organization.

As a Deputy Chair of the APA Aeromedical Committee, FO Woodke oversees our Critical Incident Response Program Subcommittee. The CIRP Subcommittee is responsible for ensuring a coordinated response toward accident investigators, crew members, and their families after a critical incident. FO Woodke is overseeing APA’s CIRP Subcommittee for the second time, and he held similar leadership positions at other unions before he became an American Airlines pilot in 2008.

“It has been an honor to work for all the organizations I have served,” FO Woodke said. “I consider all my efforts to assist others as a debt I am repaying for the assistance I have received; I would not still be in aviation today if it wasn’t for the CIRP program.”

What’s a Solar Cycle?

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee.

In the last few months, have you noticed the aurora visible much further south in latitude than normal? This is due to significant solar activity (solar maximum) as a result of Solar Cycle 25. To spread awareness and education, the Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee will periodically answer some common questions regarding space weather.

The solar cycle is when the sun fluctuates between solar minimum and solar maximum. Solar maximum is defined as an increase in sunspots (caused by magnetic changing fields) and a magnetic pole shift. This typically occurs approximately every 11 years.

For more information, please refer to the Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee’s webpage. If you have questions, please send to cmte-occupationalhealth@alliedpilots.org.

Our Recommended Reading List

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee.

In an effort to improve our members’ health, we have created a recommended reading list. Each month, we will highlight a book that has helped in the prevention of, treatment of, or recovery from an injury or illness, or has elevated a member’s education. Feel free to send your book recommendations to aeromed-committee@alliedpilots.org.

Traume: The Invisible Epidemic

In Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic, Dr. Paul Conti examines the most recent research, clinical best practices, and dozens of real-life stories to present a deeper and more urgent view of trauma. Not only does Dr. Conti explain how trauma affects the body and mind, he also demonstrates that trauma is transmissible among close family and friends, as well as across generations and within vast demographic groups.

With all this in mind, Trauma: The Invisible Epidemic proposes a course of treatment for the seemingly untreatable. Here, Dr. Conti traces a step-by-step series of concrete changes that we can make both as individuals and as a society to alleviate trauma’s effects and prevent further traumatization in the future.

Disclaimer: This recommendation is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine or other professional health care services. Always consult with your medical provider when making health care decisions.

Contract Training Offered in MIA on July 11

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 July 11 in MIA for a full day of training on the new CBA. This session will include a preview of the Electronic Communication System and the Reserve Assignment System, which are both scheduled to go live on Aug. 31.

This training will be conducted in hybrid fashion, with members welcome to participate in person at Dave & Buster’s in Hollywood from 0900 to 1600 or virtually via Zoom. If you plan to attend in person, please RSVP so we have an accurate headcount for the food orders. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Electronic Document Index before attending training. 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 bookmark the index for future reference. During 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.

  • Since April 30, the left engine FADEC on A319 aircraft 752 has been written up nine times, has been on MEL four times, and has been out of service five times. At the time of this writing, it remained on MEL.
  • B737 aircraft 3AT returned to service from a MBV (main base visit) at a contract MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) station on June 18. Since then, the L1 door has been written up and out of service five times. It was most recently signed off on June 27 and is restricted to Class 1 and 2 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 June 26, 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: Allen Aoun, Aran Bar-Or, Ciro Capasso, Eric Darwin, William De Groh, Ismael Del Rosario, Maximillian Ferreira, Jonathan German, Ryan Guthrie, Samuel Heda, Zachary Henry, Christopher Hickok, Andre Leyakatalie, Danut Metehau, Antoine Morrison, Paul Murdock, Gael O’Kelly-Farrell, Robert Stack, and Christopher Tredemeyer.

Special Open Enrollment for APA Benefits

Aug. 1-15 will be a special open enrollment period for two of APA’s benefits plans, Pilot Mutual Aid and the Supplemental Medical Plan.

Pilot Mutual Aid:

  • Pilots with fewer than five years of cumulative service may enroll at any time.
  • This special open enrollment is for pilots with more than five years of cumulative service.
  • You must enroll at the $1,980 monthly benefit level.
  • You must also pay one year’s worth of contributions at the lowest level plus the current monthly contribution, for a total of $585.

Supplemental Medical Plan:

  • Pilots younger than 55 may enroll at any time.
  • This special open enrollment is for pilots who are at least 55 years old or in the five-year waiting period after canceling.
  • You must pay back contributions to age 55, calculated at the time of enrollment.

FAQs are coming soon, and Zoom meetings will take place in July. If you have questions in the meantime, please contact the APA Benefits Department at benefits.sec@alliedpilots.org or 817-302-2140.

APA Holiday Schedule

APA headquarters, including Contract Administration, will be closed on July 4 and 5 in observance of Independence Day. Contract Administration will be open from 0700 to 1900 Central on July 6 and 7.

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:

Domicile Elections

Pilots based at CLT, LGA, and MIA will elect a Chair and Vice Chair to represent each domicile for three-year terms that will begin on Nov. 1.

When the electronic submission for nomination process closed at 0001 Central today, these pilots’ names had been submitted:

CLT Chair
CA Heather Ducimo Boulanger
CA Erik DeWinne
CA Casey Granger
FO Hickory Ham
CA Vincent Milazzo
CA Christopher Redden
CA John Owens
FO Tammy Smart
CA Kevin Wilkes

CLT Vice Chair
CA Heather Ducimo Boulanger
CA Erik DeWinne
CA Casey Granger
FO Hickory Ham
FO Cara Leuschel
CA Vincent Milazzo
CA Michael Pfeifer
FO Tammy Smart
CA Shane Vaughn
CA Kevin Wilkes

LGA Chair
CA Lawrence Cutler
CA David Hines
CA Jeffrey Kerr
CA Mark Lokey
CA James Talbott

LGA Vice Chair
CA David Hines
CA Jeffrey Kerr
CA Michael Phelan
CA Sam Pool
CA James Scanlan
CA Robert D. White

MIA Chair
CA Thomas Copeland
FO James Funderburk
CA Andrew Weingram
CA Jay Wilhelm

MIA Vice Chair
CA Scott Craig
FO James Funderburk
FO Steven Mann
CA Ken Wells
CA Anne Witcher

These pilots have until 0001 Central on July 5 to complete the Willingness to Serve and Conflict of Interest Disclosure forms. The list of candidates will be certified at 1000 Central on July 8.

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 (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

What is the process for handling issues that occur repeatedly?
As human beings, it is expected that behavior changes slowly and, as such, some pilots will always behave as their personality dictates. The Professional Standards process should not be expected to “change” a personality, but more thought of as an opportunity to share how a certain behavior affects peers and colleagues. There will also be the possibility of an employee exhibiting the same behavior because they have yet to be informed there is a different expectation. If an issue has been referred to a committee member, and an employee exhibits the same issue, please be patient and give the committee the opportunity to re-address the issue. As a submitter, if you are concerned, you have the option of updating the committee volunteer on observed progress. If at any time you are concerned with the time needed to process any submission, contact any National Deputy or your elected Domicile Officers for resolution.

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 July 12 at CLT followed by Aug. 23 at IAD. 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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