APA News Digest

Jan. 17, 2025

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

In This Edition ...

• Winter Board Meeting Set for Jan. 27-31
• Positive Rate Episode 40: HIMS Subcommittee
• Retirement and Benefits Committee: “Super Catch-Up” Contributions
• Hotel Committee: Verify Your Hotel in CCI
• Membership Committee: APA Welcomes New Pilots
• Membership Committee: APA Welcomes Leadership Class
• Membership Committee: Retirees in November and December
• APA Medical Minute – Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s
• Are You Willing to Serve?
• National Election
• Domicile Events
• Week in Review
• Professional Standards FAQ
• APA Holiday Schedule
• If You’re 50, Join The Grey Eagles
• Pilot Job Fairs and Future Pilot Seminars

Winter Board Meeting Set for Jan. 27-31

The APA Board of Directors will convene at union headquarters in Fort Worth on Monday, Jan. 27, for its regularly scheduled winter meeting. Resolutions to be considered by the Board can be reviewed here.

ALPA President CA Jason Ambrosi has accepted the Board’s invitation to attend the meeting; he is expected on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

The meeting agenda will include a Membership and 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.

Positive Rate Episode 40: HIMS Subcommittee

The APA Aeromedical Committee’s HIMS Subcommittee is charged with helping pilots deal with the disease of chemical dependency in order to save lives and careers while enhancing flight safety. In the latest episode of our “Positive Rate” podcast, Communications Committee Deputy Chair FO Melissa Monahan talks with CA Brian Beckman about the assistance the HIMS Subcommittee provides to pilots and their families.

Each episode of “Positive Rate” features APA 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 comment, please send it to Communications Director Gregg Overman via goverman@alliedpilots.org.

“Super Catch-Up” Contributions

This is a new message from the APA Retirement and Benefits Committee.

In last week’s News Digest, we referenced the optional SECURE 2.0 Act provision called a “super catch-up” contribution, which allows individuals ages 60 to 63 to make larger catch-up contributions to their retirement plans. American has elected to not incorporate this new provision at the beginning of 2025, citing lack of acceptance across all “control groups” (Envoy, PSA, and other affiliates) within the company. APA has been aggressively pursuing alternative options to implement this provision so pilots ages 60 to 63 can make the higher catch-up contributions. We understand this is a pressing issue with time constraints as pilots determine their 2025 investment plans. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.

Verify Your Hotel in CCI

This is a new message from the APA Hotel Committee.

Your hotel assignment should always be loaded into CCI. Please verify you have a hotel in CCI before gate departure, and confirm your hotel once you block in on your final leg before heading there. If the driver ever says they have been instructed to take you to a different property than what is indicated in CCI, please verify this with the Hotel/Limo Desk before traveling to the new hotel. Non-contracted hotels, to include relocation hotels, should be indicated properly in CCI. If they are not in CCI, the company probably does not know you are there. For security reasons, CCI needs to accurately reflect your layover hotel.

For more information, check out the 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.

APA Welcomes New Pilots

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

Click the image for a closer look.

On Jan. 14, the APA Membership Committee hosted a casual dinner for the following new-hire pilots: Mohammad Jahangir Abdal, Joseph Agricola, Darick Apitz, Daniel Bartlett, Zachary Beausay, David Bown, Jeffrey Braden, Brendon Browne, Nicholas Brunkhorst, David Bunker, Neil Casey, Jose Chanza Avino, Dean Chironis, Francis Cipriani, Joseph Clanton, Sean Creighton, Ewell Dillon, Stephen Domenicone, Shawn Engel, Tyler Glover, Russell Gohn, Joel Gonzalez, Benjamin Gubatina, Scott Harrington, John Hourin, Connor Jackson, Marc Jaubert, Jacob Jones, Philip Lange, Justin Lennon, Gerald Luna, Gabriel Miranda, Kennedy Nguyen, Andrew Park, Aaron Patel, Olivia Raftshol, Pierre Ramos, Nathan Rathgeb, Jarrad Reeves, Jeremy Scales, Brian Schoppaul, David Shrift, Christopher Smith, Kellen Smith, Andrew Talbott, Charles Vaughn, and Aaron Washburn.

APA Welcomes Leadership Class

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

On Jan. 15, 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: Nathan Cressman, Nathan Day, Timothy Diefenbach, Luis Garcia-Sanchez, Brian Loveless, Diana Rose, Peter Runez, and Steven Zalewski.

Retirees in November and December

This is a new message from the APA Membership Committee.

We would like to recognize and congratulate these pilots who retired in November and December.

BOS: CA Michael Davis, FO Vincent Iannuzzi, and CA Richard Krajewski

CLT: CA Philip Bradshaw, FO James Burr, CA Jeffry Cartwright, CA Ronald Coryell, CA Francis Kelly, FO Alan Lay, CA Daniel Livingston, CA Steven Marcum, CA Brian Neal, FO Timothy Roberts, CA Adrian Shaurette, CA Benet Sommers, CA William Stamas, CA Jeffrey Stanton, CA Jeff Stein, CA Gregory Stimson, FO Robert Streba II, and CA Gary Urban

DCA: CA Peter Dugstad, CA Douglas Dunbar, CA David Hurston, FO Michael Musick, and FO Patrick Witherell

DFW: FO Mitchell Ballard, FO Paul Barger, CA Carl Battis, CA Stephen Booher, FO Salvatore Briguglio, CA Peter Campbell, CA JG Chenoweth, FO David Coggin, CA Scott Crockett, FO Frank Curry, CA Roy Eidson, CA David Enebo, CA Lawrence Fagan Jr., CA Michael Fairman, CA Jeffrey Forbes, CA Terryl Friesen, CA Jon Goldmark, CA Bret Griffith, CA Andrew Herrmann, FO Michael Jaensch, CA Fredric Jeanes, CA Maureen Kroeger, FO Garth Kroll, CA Kent Lepkowski, CA Charles Lohman, CA Michael Lopinto, FO Elaine Magor, CA Gregg Mattson, CA Michael Miller, CA Kirk Rogers, CA Ted Rutherford, CA Mitchell Siegelman, CA Byron Smith, CA William Stephens, FO Gerald Varner, CA Charles Vilas, CA Thomas Weaver, CA Robert Werner, CA Glenn Wilde, and CA Delvin Young

LAX: CA James Austin, FO Robert Bernardo, CA Carlos Curti, CA Philip Daley, CA Sven Davidson, FO Jacci Ebert, FO Jeff Geyer, FO Lanise Laube, FO Allan Margitan, FO Brian McKeon, CA Gregory Monette, CA Daniel Morgigno, FO Mark Onorato, CA Paul Oswald, and CA Rick Wu

LGA: FO Jeffrey Ashburn, CA Brian Bailey, CA William Beckman, CA Mark Helf, CA Kenneth Kranz, CA Bernard Mallon, CA James McLaughlin, CA Robert Pfau, CA Mark Ranstead, and CA Timothy Ward

MIA: CA Segundo Andrew, CA Kelly Brown, CA Scott Ferguson, CA Kevin Garry, CA Boyce Gordon, CA William Hudson, CA John Maniscalco, CA Douglas Mitchell, CA Ragan Nicholl, CA John Nylund, CA Rolando Proenza, CA Jose Rivera, CA Rafael Rodriguez Frank, CA Jaime Sang-Arguello, CA Ann Singer, CA Kim Taylor, FO Kirk Tilney, and CA Brian Voogd

ORD: CA Scott Abbott, FO James Beach, CA Joe Cannizzo, CA William Casey, FO Charles Dierkes, CA Alan Homan, CA James Kilty, FO John Kolzow, FO Dennis Maynard, FO Lawrence McCarthy, CA Bart Meltzer, CA Scott Miller, FO Chris Reeter, CA Raymond Sievers, and CA Jeffrey Skiles

PHL: CA Peter Campagna, Thomas Clarke, CA Jon Duncan, FO Peter Ferraro, CA Morgan Havens, CA Thomas Mason, CA David Piccone, CA James Rosenkranz, FO Troy Shoemaker, CA William Taylor, and CA J.W. Walker

PHX: CA Michael Angelo, CA Carter Foster, and CA Douglas Suggs

APA Medical Minute – Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s

In the latest edition of the APA Medical Minute, APA Medical Advisor Kathy Parr discusses how a pilot can continue to fly after a diagnosis of essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease.

You can watch previous Medical Minute videos on APA’s YouTube channel.

National Election

Members in good standing will elect a President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer to serve from July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2028.

Pilots can submit themselves or others for nomination until 0001 Central on Jan. 30. Here’s where things stood at 1200 Central today:

President
18 pilots’ names had been submitted, with CA Bill Evans, FO Alex Gutierrez, and FO Nick Silva officially seeking nomination.

Vice President
Six pilots’ names had been submitted, with FO Scott Yancy officially seeking nomination.

Secretary-Treasurer
Six pilots’ names had been submitted, with CA Clint Early and CA Andrew O’Hara officially seeking nomination.

For more information, see the Elections page on AlliedPilots.org.

Domicile Events

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

• BOS: Domicile Meeting on Feb. 18
• CLT: Domicile Meeting on Feb. 13
• DFW: Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 28

Are You Willing to Serve?

Each of these national committees or subcommittees has the indicated number of vacancies:

• Aeromedical Committee (0)
  • Critical Incident Response Program Subcommittee (1)
  • Disabled Pilot Awareness Subcommittee (3)
  • Human Intervention Motivational Study Subcommittee (1)
  • Pilot Occupational Health Subcommittee (2)
  • Project Wingman Subcommittee (3)
• Captain’s Authority Committee (2)
• Communications Committee (0)
  • National Communications Network (2)
• Economic and Financial Analysis Committee (1)
• Grey Eagles Liaison Committee (1)
• Professional Standards Committee (1)
• Retirement and Benefits Committee (1)*
• Training Committee (1)
  • Checkmate (1 on 777)

* Seeking volunteer with financial services experience and possible AIF®, CFP®, or related designations.

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

Week in Review

Here are some recent messages you may have missed.

• Communications Committee: Tragedy in Denver
• Communications Committee: “Miracle on the Hudson”
• Jumpseat/Non-Rev Committee: Jumpseat Reservation System “W” Listings Should Not Rollover
• Safety Committee: New “GPS Unreliable” Checklist

Professional Standards FAQs

Is Professional Standards suitable for conduct issues or performance issues?
It may be suited for both. The program is designed to promote and maintain professionalism. It is well suited for any case, conduct, or performance when professionalism may be an issue.

To read all of the FAQs, click here.

Professional Standards’ 24/7 hotline: 817-402-2181

APA Holiday Schedule

APA headquarters, including Contract Administration, will be closed on Monday, Jan. 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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.

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

The Future & Active Pilot Alliance’s next Pilot Job Fair and Future Pilot Seminar are scheduled for Feb. 21 at DFW followed by March 14 at SAN. 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.