FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Capt. Dennis Tajer, 847-902-8481/Gregg Overman, 817-312-3901 Allied Pilots Association Supports ADS-B In Technology to Enhance Safety FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 30, 2026) – The Allied Pilots Association (APA), certified collective bargaining agent for the 16,000 pilots of American Airlines, voiced its support for utilizing Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast In (ADS-B In) technology to provide critical, real-time air traffic information to improve pilots’ situational awareness.  “With yesterday marking the one-year anniversary of the devastating midair collision in Washington between PSA Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60, APA emphasizes its ongoing commitment to the preservation and enhancement of aviation safety,” said First Officer Nick Silva, APA President. “We support the use of ADS-B In technology to improve safety in our skies by enabling pilots and air traffic controllers to be even more proactive, ensuring greater positive control of aircraft spacing and separation.” American Airlines, in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and APA, has equipped more than 300 of its Airbus A321 aircraft with real-time Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) utilizing ADS-B In technology. Thousands of APA pilots now possess years of operational experience with this enhanced system. CDTI increases awareness of surrounding air traffic in the airport environment. As controllers issue clearances to pilots, those clearances become even clearer with ADS-B In, as pilots are presented with an enhanced situation display of aircraft in the area – including their altitude, speed, call sign, and importantly, their direction – thus providing an additional layer of safety for operators in the National Airspace System (NAS). “American Airlines flight crews are at the forefront of conducting certain ADS-B In applications and are currently the only pilots globally that are trained and qualified to do so, and APA supports the further expansion of this technology across the airline’s fleet,” Silva said, noting that American Airlines is developing a plan to equip the remainder of its narrowbody fleet. When asked earlier this week about the implementation of ADS-B In technology to enhance safety, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy responded with a rhetorical question: “Are you for safety?” “APA endorses NTSB Chair Homendy’s position that ADS-B In represents a significant enhancement to safety. We urge policymakers and the FAA to expedite the advancement and implementation of this technology and its related applications to enhance safety in the NAS,” Silva said. “We pledge to provide the necessary expertise and resources to support its adoption, with the core objective of enhancing safety for our passengers, pilots, and controllers.” Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association – the largest independent pilots union in the United States – is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 16,000 pilots of American Airlines, including several hundred pilots on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces. The union’s website is AlliedPilots.org.

PSA Flight 5342: Aviation Safety is Our Guiding Principle On Jan. 29, 2025, PSA Airlines Flight 5342 (CRJ700) collided in midair with a U.S. Army Aviation PAT 25 (Sikorsky UH-60L) while on approach to Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 passengers and crew on board the two aircraft lost their lives in the collision, including Captain Jonathan J. Campos and Honorary Captain Sam Lilley, who were operating PSA Flight 5342. During a hearing this week, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said “deep, underlying systemic failures — system flaws — aligned to create the conditions that led to the devastating tragedy.” The NTSB previously disclosed that there had been 15,200 air separation incidents near DCA between commercial aircraft and helicopters since 2023, including 85 “close call” events. Chair Homendy also had this to say about the midair collision: “This was 100 percent preventable.” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced last week that the Federal Aviation Administration is formalizing permanent restrictions for helicopters and powered-lift from operating near DCA. The restrictions were put in place immediately following last January's accident. APA extends its deepest sympathies to all concerned and affirms its commitment to preserving and enhancing aviation safety as our union's guiding principle.

The Standard Our Profession Demands — Whatever the Conditions During the past five days, American Airlines pilots have repeatedly been asked to operate through significant operational dysfunction. You have done so with professionalism, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to safety, often without the support and responsiveness the situation required. That professionalism has been evident throughout the system. You have reported prepared, exercised sound judgment, and supported one another and our passengers while the airline’s staffing, systems, and authority failed to support the operation. We have heard from you, and the frustration and anger expressed by pilots across the system is real, widespread, and justified. Pilots were left without answers, without meaningful support, and without access to anyone empowered to resolve problems that directly affected their ability to operate safely and comply with the contract. That is not an acceptable operating model. It is not a weather problem. It is a management failure. As the company works to restore the operation, we want to remind everyone to remain vigilant in following the FARs and the contract. Shortcuts or so-called creative solutions that may appear expedient in the moment must always pass the test of legality and contractual compliance. We have also heard from many of you about delays of hours or even days to have sequences repaired, often after you have already returned to domicile. These failed continuities are preventing pilots from trading future sequences or picking up flying that would otherwise help stabilize the operation. Please document any instance in which you would have been awarded a sequence but were bypassed due to an unrepaired schedule. The storm this weekend was not unexpected. Unfortunately, neither was the resulting chaos in our operation. Severe winter weather is a known operational challenge, and preparation and staffing are management responsibilities. Yet pilots experienced multi-hour hold times with Crew Scheduling and Crew Tracking, only to be told issues would be addressed when resources became available. Two-hour waits to reach an IOC duty pilot who lacked the authority to resolve the problem at hand; six-hour delays between requesting a hotel and having someone even assigned to review the request through ECS — these failures occurred while pilots were actively trying to comply with procedures and do the right thing, often without timely information or meaningful support. We want to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our APA committee volunteers and staff. Throughout this disruption, they worked tirelessly to assist pilots in navigating delays, displacements, and uncertainty. Since Friday, a group of volunteers and staff has fielded questions around the clock, responding to thousands of phone calls, emails, text messages, and member inquiries. Many of these requests came from pilots who were lost in the system, unable to reach Crew Scheduling or Crew Tracking, or routed to duty pilots without the authority to assist. These volunteers and staff stepped in where the system did not, and their efforts mattered. This is not solely about one weekend. It reflects an operation built to lag our peers even in ideal conditions — one that continues to prioritize short-term cost savings versus the investment required to function effectively when pressure is applied. The burden of these management shortcomings is repeatedly placed on pilots, who are expected to compensate for systemic shortcomings through professionalism alone. Our pilots did — and continue to do — exactly what was expected under difficult circumstances. The same cannot be said of the systems and support designed to back them up. APA will pursue accountability where it belongs and press for meaningful improvements, while our pilots continue meeting the standard this profession demands. In Unity, FO Nick Silva President CA Chris Torres Vice President FO Philip Johnson Secretary-Treasurer

One of These Things is Not Like the Other Today, many of you are reading this message from an airport, layover hotel, crew room, or while deadheading around the system. The last four days have been difficult on you, your fellow crew members, and all American “team members” — not to mention our passengers. This operational disruption was not sudden or unanticipated, yet management’s response has been woefully lacking. But then, why should Winter Storm Fern be any different? Failing to exit the global pandemic with an aggressive strategy to compete, a misguided and costly new distribution scheme, a myopic focus on domestic markets like Knoxville and El Paso, and failing to capitalize on the premium travel boom are just some of the ways American has missed the mark during the last five years. While this weekend’s disruption has had a profound impact on our pilots and passengers, the sickness runs deeper than this most recent symptom. For most pilots, relative to their peers at Delta or United, it has represented a six-figure difference in compensation during the past three years alone. That is a significant disparity in our take-home pay, and a significant cost savings for the company. Just this year, Delta will pay more than $500 million in profit sharing to their pilots alone, which is more than American’s full-year earnings for the entire company. Yet management just paid the same lip service on this morning’s earnings call for the reasons behind American’s continued industry-trailing financial and operational performance. Along with optimism over more premium seats, we heard whining about weather-related disruptions and having to pay “richer” contracts than their peers, all while conveniently omitting American’s $1 billion-plus cost advantage in profit-sharing alone. Lest we forget, we heard those very same excuses last year.  And in the meantime, management changed their bonus structure to protect their own compensation. Yes, you read that correctly. For 2025, management’s bonuses were no longer tied to pre-tax margin or income. Management bonuses are now based on relative EBITDAR margin improvement, which is business school-speak for “we don’t have a plan to catch our competitors, but we still want the stock options.” But the disparity does not end with the financial performance or your profit-sharing check. Management’s recent decision not to implement the agreed-to Line Check Pilot provisions — a long-established program at Delta and United — is one more indication of how the company will step over a dollar to pick up a dime. Later today, I will file five different grievances: two for the absolute degradation in our hotels in direct contravention of our negotiated language from the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and two others protesting the subjective implementation of check pilot schedules. The final is the expedited grievance over Line Check Pilot implementation. Your APA leadership will continue holding management accountable and defending the contract our pilots ratified, and our pilots will continue operating safely, professionally, and with pride in what we do. But no one should confuse our professionalism for acceptance of American’s continued underperformance.