This is APA Communications Committee Chairman Captain Karl Schricker with the APA Information Hotline for Thursday, May 8.

During the portion of its Board briefing that took place in open session, the Negotiating Committee reported that it anticipates the National Mediation Board will preside over one more week of mediated negotiations this month and two weeks’ worth of mediated negotiations in June. Negotiating Committee Chairman First Officer Mark Stephens indicated that APA would also “press” management to negotiate when the mediators are unavailable.

While in open session, Technical Analysis and Scheduling Committee Deputy Chairman Captain Doug Pinion discussed the issue of realistic scheduling with the Board. As we reported earlier this week in a news release, APA has formally requested the Federal Aviation Administration’s interpretation of a multitude of existing regulations—as well as the development of new regulations—regarding realistic scheduling. The Board approved two motions directing the Flight Time/Duty Time and Technical Analysis and Scheduling Committees to formulate a set of recommended actions concerning this critical flight-safety issue.

Also this week, the Board voted to approve the following resolutions:

R2008-34, Committee Transparency and Communications, which modifies the APA Policy Manual to acknowledge “that the Board of Directors and the National Officers have the right to inquire and expect to be informed of all activities within any National committee at anytime.”

R2008-35, “Membership Access to Open and Pending Resolutions on the APA Web site,” which acknowledges that “the membership should have full access to all Open and Pending resolutions so they may be allowed to provide comments prior to Board action” This resolution directs that “All resolutions acted on by the Board of Directors and all remaining open and pending resolutions will be made available to members on the APA Web site.”

R2008-36 Rev. 2, “APA Safety Awareness Event,” which emphasizes that “safety has always been and always will be a critical concern to APA” and directs that “all domiciles, in conjunction with the National Safety Committee, develop a program of Safety Awareness events to be conducted at Crew Operations throughout the system.” These events are to be scheduled on a recurring basis every six months “as necessary.”

R2008-38, “Amendment of Effective Date of the Allied Pilots Association (“APA”) Disability Income (Loss of License) Plan (including the Plan’s amendment and restatement as the Pilot Occupational Disability Plan)”, which approves changes to the Pilot Occupational Disability Plan to reflect the change in mandatory pilot retirement to age 65. The APA Benefits Review and Appeals Board recommended the changes this resolution stipulates. In the coming weeks, APA will be preparing a series of communications to detail the changes for the membership.

R2008-39, “Communications Electronic,” which modifies the APA Policy Manual to limit the NO-BOD@alliedpilots.org e-mail list to current and elect National Officers and current and elect Board members.

NATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY DAY—MAY 21: On May 21, the annual AMR shareholders meeting will take place at the AMR Flagship University. We are using the occasion to seek the AMR Board of Directors’ help in correcting the destructive course set by their appointed executive management.

We are co-hosting an all-employee demonstration at the meeting, so mark your calendars. AMR management's running of this company has clearly placed this airline in peril and our message to the AMR Board is simple and positive—fixing American Airlines begins with investing in your employees!

This will be an early-morning gathering since the shareholders meeting is scheduled to convene at 8:00 a.m. APA participants can expect to stage from a location near DFW Airport around 6:15 a.m. Coffee, shuttle buses and SPC handlers will greet you, brief you and then deploy you to appropriate locations. You can expect the mission to be completed after 10:00 a.m.

All employees from all bases are welcome to attend. Plan to join your APA leadership and your fellow employees in delivering our critical message to the AMR Board of Directors and our fellow shareholders.

That’s all for today. As always, we encourage all members to read this week’s APA News Digest and visit the APA and APANegotiations.com Web sites. Thank you for checking this hotline.