APA News Digest

July 12, 2024

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In This Edition ...

We Can’t Wait to See You at Oshkosh

Photo by Nate Burrows

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the world’s largest aviation gathering, will commence in less than two weeks. APA’s Family Awareness Committee will host gatherings each evening, July 22-27. If you plan to attend any of these dinners or happy hours, please let us know via the RSVP links at AlliedPilots.org/Calendar.

Are you an APA member (current or retired) flying into Oshkosh this year? We’d love to showcase your plane on our social media. Please send pictures to socialmedia@alliedpilots.org.

The 1940 Super Stearman “Big Red” pictured above is owned and flown by CA Susan Dacy (retired). This highly modified Stearman will be featured in the airshow throughout the week. The 1956 CallAir A-2 pictured below, piloted by FO Shay Marchetti, was featured in the January/February 2024 issue of EAA’s Vintage Airplane. During Oshkosh, it will be parked in the Vintage area.

Photo by Connor Madison

Anybody who has frequented our hospitality areas at Oshkosh or Sun ’n Fun for the past several years will recognize Claire Knutson, daughter of CA Tim Knutson. Last year, she flew the family N3N into Oshkosh and was subsequently featured as part of the Warbirds in Review program. You can watch that interview 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. You may review the agenda here.

The agenda includes a Membership and Guest Hour on the first day. 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.

The following resolutions have been submitted for consideration at this meeting:

Reinstatement of The Line Forums

This an updated version of a message that the APA Communications Committee sent to all members on Tuesday.

This morning, APA President CA Ed Sicher directed the reinstatement of a limited version of The Line forums on a trial basis. At this time, members can access the following subforums: The Help Desk (Contract/CBA Q&A and Scheduling Q&A) and Fleet Systems & Training. The Scheduling Q&A subforum is limited to questions on PBS, TTS, DOTC, IMAX, and CQT bidding.

Participation on The Line remains subject to the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) as adopted by the APA Board of Directors. In accordance with the AUP, posts that do not pertain to the aforementioned subforums or otherwise violate the AUP will be removed.

These select subforums are available for educational and training purposes for active pilots. Participants do not have “First Amendment” protections in their use of The Line, and all participants are subject to the reasonable rules for use as set forth in the AUP. Participants who violate the terms of the AUP remain subject to suspension or permanent ban from The Line.

As noted, reinstatement of these limited subforums is on a trial basis. During its upcoming regularly scheduled summer meeting, the Board of Directors will likely deliberate on The Line’s future and potential changes to related policy.

Positive Rate Episode 26: Strategic Planning Committee

In the latest episode of our “Positive Rate” podcast, Communications Committee Deputy Chair FO Melissa Monahan talks with Strategic Planning Committee Chair FO Scott Yancy, who details how the committee’s planning efforts have centered around eliminating silos and encouraging greater collaboration among the elected leadership, committees, and staff. He encourages all members to engage with APA and notes that engagement can be as simple as voting in all elections and membership referendums. He also cites volunteering for the National Communications Network as a simple path to union service. NCN volunteers meet face to face with pilots in airports around the system to collect member feedback.

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 — More About Calcium Score Cardiac Testing

In the latest edition of the APA Medical Minute, APA Medical Advisor Kathy Parr addresses what happens after you complete the cardiac calcium score testing procedure and have been provided with a number.

“That’s a Cornfield or the Hudson River”

CA Dennis Tajer showed his pack of Post-it notes to CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave

Hours before its deal with the Justice Department was announced, Boeing was the topic of the lead story on this week’s edition of CBS Sunday Morning. APA spokesman CA Dennis Tajer told senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave that he’s “more ready than I’ve ever been” to fly the company’s planes.

“I have absolutely no hesitation in flying the aircraft based on what I know about it,” he said. “The unnerving part – particularly on the MAX – is that I don’t know what you put on it that you decided not to tell me.”

Last month, CA Tajer was also featured in a 60 Minutes Australia report on the issues surrounding Boeing. In both interviews, he highlighted an FAA airworthiness directive that references “off-airport” landings.

“What the heck does that mean? That’s a cornfield or the Hudson River.”

Join Us for YOUnion 301 on July 17

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 301” meeting via Zoom at 1100 Central on July 17. This “Captains’ Development Seminar” is intended to help new captains and soon-to-be captains understand their authorities, APA support, and safety trends within our airline.

Click here to register for the July 17 meeting.

Retiring Pilots Honored Via Fini Flight

This is an updated message from the APA Family Awareness Committee.

CA Tom Force was honored on June 5 at DFW.

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 (or donuts), and make their last flight memorable! You can see more photos from our June celebrations on Facebook.

For more information on how to get involved, as an honoree or as a volunteer, email finiflight@alliedpilots.org.

Incidentals Charges

This is an updated message from the APA Hotel Committee.

This is a reminder to please remember to pay all incidentals you have charged to your room before you depart the hotel.

Every month, the AA Hotel Contracts team has to contact crew members through their base Flight Offices to remind them to pay their incidentals. Additionally, these oversights can sour a relationship between a good hotel and the company. A good practice is to never charge to your room unless you already have a credit card on file, and make sure you have no unpaid charges at checkout.

We have also seen an uptick in pilots being charged for their room at non-contracted hotels when they put their credit card on file for incidentals. We recommend that you ask for a zeroed-out bill before you depart any hotel if you choose to put a card on file.

As a reminder, you should never be required to place a credit card on file by a hotel. If a hotel says they require you to do so, and you do not plan to put incidental charges on the room, please reach out to the Hotel-Limo Desk for resolution.

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.

What Are Geomagnetic Storms?

This is a new message from the APA Aeromedical Committee.

Illustration courtesy of NASA

A geomagnetic storm is a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere. These are typically due to solar winds, solar flare, or coronal mass ejections. Some impacts to aviation include reduced GPS fidelty (RNP and well as en route GNSS signal), HF radio loss, and/or increased radiation dosage.

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

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 weather radar on B737 aircraft 3GJ has been written up 16 times and out of service 11 times. On July 12, with the radar on MEL, it operated an in-service reposition ferry to a main maintenance base, where it remains out of service and restricted to Class 1 and 2 maintenance stations.

APA Welcomes Leadership Classes

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

On July 3, 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: Keith Allison, Kenneth Bach, Wayne Benson, Tibor Farkas, Stephen Farlow, Kendall Grimmonpre, Christopher Henshall, Brian Horeczko, Edward Kelley, Arno Knapen, Jesse Lea, Matthew Morehouse, Som Chai Odom, Jennifer Palmer, Francisco Razo, Victor Stoeckmann, Marc Werner, and Ian Whitcomb.

On July 10, the committee hosted a casual dinner for the following pilots who were in Fort Worth for the PLM class: Zachary Balas, Richard Blagg Jr., Frank Botti, Brad Carstens, Ahmed Fakih, Rudy Foskuhl, Louis Lagro, Robert Mcnamara, Juan Melendez Millan, Michael Redmon Jr., Casey Ronayne, Adam Shepherd, Shad Vinson, and Elisha Walker.

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.

The following pilots have been submitted for nomination and have indicated a willingness to serve if elected:

CLT Chair
CA Heather Ducimo Boulanger
CA Erik DeWinne
CA Casey Granger
FO Hickory Ham

CLT Vice Chair
CA Heather Ducimo Boulanger
CA Casey Granger
FO Hickory Ham
CA Michael Pfeifer
FO Tammy Smart

LGA Chair
CA Lawrence Cutler
CA David Hines
CA Mark Lokey
CA Jeff Kerr

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

MIA Chair
CA Thomas Copeland
CA Andrew Weingram
CA Jay Wilhelm

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

The candidates’ resumes will be emailed (and posted on the Elections page on AlliedPilots.org) on Aug. 6.

When there are four or more candidates for a domicile position, the APA Constitution and Bylaws calls for a Nomination Round that winnows the field to three. The Nomination Round voting period will be open from 0100 Eastern on Aug. 7 until 0101 Eastern on Aug. 29. The deadline for receipt of mailed paper ballots is 1100 Eastern on Aug. 29.

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

Do committee volunteers receive any kind of training?
New committee volunteers receive an extensive two-day training course that includes more than 16 hours of classroom instruction. The training includes modules such as Conflict Resolution, Mediation, Mentoring, Pilot Personality, Generational Issues Affecting Cockpit Performance, Resources, and Communication Skills. Committee members also receive instruction on the Professional Standards process, the APA Policy Manual, and the importance of confidentiality. These concepts are reinforced through multiple role-play scenarios.

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 Aug. 23 at IAD followed by Sept. 20 at TPA. 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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