The updates section provides historical information about scheduled bargaining sessions.
View 2010 Updates | View 2009 Updates | View 2007 Updates | View 2006 Updates
December 19, 2008
Negotiations with the APA continued on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with both parties meeting under the NMB’s guidance in Washington, D.C.
Negotiators discussed a large number of topics including pilot commuter policy, drug and alcohol testing, the paycheck process and scheduling. While the company was not scheduled to present proposals on any topic, discussions continued on the two mini-packages AA negotiators proposed during the last negotiating session in an effort to address and close 14 administrative topics. The APA chose not to present any counter-proposals to suggest how to close the administrative items as was requested when the previous session concluded.
Mediator Tosi is working with both parties to establish an agenda that will be mutually agreed to by the company, APA and NMB for the next meeting dates in early 2009.
December 5, 2008
Negotiations with the APA resumed Tuesday afternoon and continued through Friday, where negotiators tentatively agreed to an item on pilot training displacement known as Q&A 53.
In addition to covering all items on this week’s agenda, the company proposed two packages of seven items each that would allow negotiators to clear 14 topics off the table and focus on more substantial issues. APA negotiators rejected these packages and did not offer any counter-proposals.
The company also proposed an economic evaluation protocol to outline how both parties determine the cost of proposals. The APA was unwilling at this time to establish a protocol and reiterated their position that cost will not be the basis for these negotiations.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume December 15 to continue discussions on these administrative items and several other topics.
December 2, 2008
Negotiations with the APA resumed yesterday with NMB Senior Mediator Zachary Jones and Mediator Mike Tosi. In order to update Senior Mediator Jones on progress made since mediated discussions began in April, and to remind both committees of the current status of various proposals, the company presented a summary of negotiations thus far and AA’s attempts to reach a mutually beneficial contract.*
Shortly after the presentation began, the APA opted to leave the session. The company continued talks with the mediators despite the APA’s absence. Joint discussions are scheduled to resume this afternoon.
* This is a large file. Please be patient while it loads.
October 24, 2008
The APA took Wednesday and Thursday to prepare a counter-proposal to the Company’s revised Scheduling and Reserve proposal presented on Tuesday. The Company’s revised proposal included a number of changes that addressed concerns expressed by APA’s negotiators, including sequence protection obligation, sit times more than two hours, eliminating E-time exceptions, reducing reserves, sequences with more calendar days than duty days, crew rest exceptions and domestic duty limitations.
In addition to its Scheduling and Reserve proposal, the Company also proposed modifying its military leave policy. While in no way detracting from a pilot’s ability to take military leave, the Company’s proposal removes the pay consequences if a pilot fails to give advanced notification of leave. Flying would be treated as uncredited, and pilots would have the opportunity to make up the full amount of lost time while on leave by picking up hours through Trip Trade or Open Time.
Due to a change in tax law, AA negotiators also proposed eliminating the Credit Plan Account (CPA) bank to avoid the potential of having that pilot income taxed as deferred compensation. There would be no change to pilot compensation, the only difference would be that time previously deposited in a pilot’s CPA bank would be paid out at the time when the flying is done.
When discussions resumed Friday, the APA presented their counter-proposal. The company is encouraged that the parties seem to have found some common ground on a number of issues.
Part of the Company’s proposal that the APA did not accept was designed to meet some specific Company and pilot needs that have been communicated by the APA negotiating committee. We believed PBS, the scheduling system used by almost all legacy carriers, addressed many of those needs in a very effective way. That said, APA continued to communicate that PBS is not something that the pilot workforce is interested in or willing to accept. As a result, we remain open to hearing and thoughtfully discussing APA’s alternative(s) that would offer similar benefits.
The next bargaining session has been scheduled for November 18, by the NMB.
October 23, 2008
On Tuesday, the company offered a revised Scheduling and Reserve proposal covering a number of topics including the establishment of a Preferential Bidding System (PBS). This, like all of the company's proposals, is not a take-it-or-leave-it offer and was intended to generate discussion about how pilots can have more control over their schedules and a better quality of life, while improving the efficiency and productivity of AA's scheduling operations.
PBS has been discussed several times in negotiations. It has been agreed to by every network carrier and allows airlines to customize the system to their needs. The program uses state-of-the-art systems compared to AA's dated software and is more cost efficient because the software provider can share the systems' costs among multiple companies, not just one airline.
The system offers pilots a variety of significant benefits:
To ensure that PBS balances the needs of the company and our pilots, AA suggests establishing a joint PBS sub-committee of the Joint Scheduling Committee (JSC) to provide input into selecting a program vendor, system customization and training while also overseeing the monthly administration of the process. Pilots will be properly trained and participate in several test bids to familiarize them with the new system before it becomes effective.
Company negotiators have consistently said - from day one of negotiations - that finding ways to make our operations more efficient and productive was a top priority and we would find ways to do so without any pilot furloughs as a result of productivity gained through negotiated work rule changes. PBS is one of the ways the company can do that while improving our pilots' quality of life.
The company hopes APA will thoughtfully review and consider a system that would reduce our dependence on reserves, give pilots more say in the trips they fly and give the APA an equal seat at the table to design and manage the schedule building process.
Negotiations with the APA are scheduled to continue this afternoon and Friday. At their conclusion, the company will provide a full summary of the week's discussions including other aspects of its Scheduling and Reserve proposal such as military leave and the Credit Plan Account.
September 22, 2008
Negotiations between the company and APA resumed this week on Monday, beginning with the company presenting counter-proposals on Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), Supplement Z Terrorism Benefits, Section 23 and Co-Terminals. With respect to CRAF, the APA asked for a broad increase of its Supplement Z terrorism insurance. The company has been committed to providing appropriate coverage for its pilots, and our current provisions are consistent with industry norms.
Discussions on Monday and Tuesday also included an APA claim to "right of discovery" under the Grievance and Arbitration process. While the company is fully cooperative in the exchange of documents within the grievances and arbitration process, it advised APA that the current contract provisions do not allow for "discovery" and it is not interested in allowing APA "fishing expeditions" in grievance matters.
AA negotiators also rejected APA's Union Business Travel proposal, which would have unilaterally provided company-funded travel for anyone the union deems necessary for an arbitration hearing or preparation meeting. This would have required the company to reserve a seat for a non-revenue APA member and potentially deny that seat to customers, therefore negatively affecting AA’s ability to generate revenue. The company advised the union it could not consider an expansion to the current travel language in light of the union's unwillingness to acknowledge that it would comply with the company's current travel policy and provide an explanation for numerous union business travel segments previously identified as questionable by the company.
During Tuesday’s scheduling discussions, the company offered to run a test that would allow it to build a “mini” line of flying using available open time. This would be offered to reserve pilots and give them the ability to have part of the month converted to known flying rather than staying on reserve status and not knowing when they will work. APA declined the test. AA negotiators also proposed an average line value instead of a hard monthly max; an upper limit of 92 hours per month including voluntary flying; and a limited, temporary flexibility to add up to five hours of flying if we have turnover of more than five percent in any bid status in a month. This would help the company effectively maintain operations during periods of unanticipated retirements or military leaves and provide greater ability to manage short-term operational demands. Unfortunately, the APA rejected the company’s revised scheduling proposal.
Tuesday evening the APA alerted the media – but not the company – that it would be filing a Presidential grievance opposing the proposed joint business agreement (JBA) with British Airways and Iberia. The company therefore notified mediator Tosi and the APA negotiating committee it would be forced to postpone the start of Wednesday's negotiations in order to address media inquiries prompted by the APA's actions. Again, we find the union's position on the JBA not only disappointing, but detrimental to the company and all its employees. We cannot understand why the current APA leadership would oppose an agreement that would strengthen our airline and create advancement opportunities for employees – including pilots – while benefitting our customers in our efforts to remain competitive with Star Alliance and SkyTeam.
The APA Negotiating Committee chairman was absent in Wednesday’s discussions. The APA indicated it would like some general explanations regarding our Long-Term Disability, Scope, Retiree Medical and Visa/Passport proposals. Union representatives presented a number of detailed questions at Thursday's meeting on those topics. In order to provide accurate answers, the company will consult its subject matter experts and provide responses at the next negotiating session.
The groups were able to reach a tentative agreement on an issue regarding Q&A 53 addressing obligations for a pilot displaced from a trip for training purposes. The company awaits the final contract language APA is preparing.
Negotiations under the guidance of mediator Tosi are scheduled to resume the week of October 20.
September 17, 2008
Company and APA negotiators met Monday afternoon and Tuesday to discuss a variety of issues. We are disappointed, however, that late Tuesday the APA announced to the media -- but not to the company -- that it would be filing a Presidential grievance against the company's proposed joint business agreement with British Airways and Iberia. The union's position on this topic is not only very disappointing, but unhelpful to pilots, the company and all its employees. Expanding this long-standing alliance relationship would generate more revenue and make our airline more efficient; it would create opportunities for employee growth and advancement and offer our customers the options they want. It would also make us more competitive with the other alliances that have become much stronger in recent months. We fail to comprehend why APA's current leadership would want to try to undermine an agreement that aligns with their goal of protecting jobs and offering pilots more flying opportunities.
The company has notified the APA negotiating committee and mediator Tosi that we will take this morning to review the union's statements before resuming negotiations this afternoon.
September 2, 2008Company and APA negotiators met last week to discuss a variety of issues as well as analyses from the joint scheduling committee. On Monday APA presented proposals on Section 23 (System Board of Adjustment), International Expenses, Crew Rest Seats, Paycheck Process, CRAF and Supplement Z (Terrorism, Sabotage and Hostage Benefits). The company is considering these proposals and will respond to the union once it has had time to evaluate them appropriately.
Tuesday began with AA negotiators presenting an analysis of APA's proposals on sequence construction. In the afternoon, APA presented a proposal on the Filling of Open Time similar to its previous proposal but with added detail. The content of the proposal, however, showed little change. The remainder of the afternoon was spent discussing various scheduling-related issues.
On Wednesday the company presented a counter-proposal to APA's Section 23 proposal presented in Monday's session. We hope that the parties can come to a mutually beneficial agreement on the remaining three issues associated with this section so that we can move to other topics.
The company used Thursday to present an overview of its Joint Business Agreement and antitrust immunity application with British Airways and Iberia to members of the Scope and Negotiating committees. We explained the important benefits of this agreement that will allow us to compete effectively with the other immunized alliances, Star and SkyTeam, in the increasingly globalized industry. We also addressed a number of questions from APA at the conclusion of the presentation. Additional information is available on AAPilots.com.
The next negotiating session is scheduled for Monday, September 15 at the request of the NMB.
August 14, 2008Prior to starting negotiations this week, the company responded to the APA's furlough mitigation counter-proposal. As previously communicated to the APA, the company is interested in pursuing any proposal that balances the needs of pilots and all employees, helps to manage and/or lower American's costs, improves productivity and positions the company to compete effectively amidst the unprecedented challenges facing the airline industry. APA's proposal runs counter to these objectives as it:
American's proposal sought to address this issue very differently. That said, there are some areas where American's and APA's objectives on this topic seem to be aligned. Both proposals seek to mitigate furloughs by offering an incentive to senior pilots to separate from the company. In addition, both proposals identified and tried to address the training and staffing needs during the transition. As such, we hope to continue constructive dialogue on this issue and come to agreement in the event that incentive programs continue to be necessary, based on pilot attrition occurring over the next few months.
Upon completion of that discussion, formal Section 6 negotiating sessions were held for two days this week. The APA responded to the company's proposals on paid union leave, sick, lock-in provisions and apportionment pay with responses that stated its "original position stands." The company offered responses to co-terminal flying, paycheck process, vacations and system board of adjustment. The parties also discussed the Hawaiian codeshare provisions, training displacement, international crew rest seats and crew meals.
In an effort to illustrate the cost of APA's current proposals, the company provided a chart comparing what other carriers' pilot cost per block hour is to what American's pilot cost per block hour would be if APA's proposals were adopted. It showed that American's pilot costs would increase by more than 175 percent and be approximately 275 percent higher than the 2007 industry average of $255. The chart can be found here.
Negotiations will continue on August 25, 26 and 27, 2008.
July 24, 2008This week, negotiators continued discussion on a number of items, including scheduling and related items, Sections 21, 22 and 23 related to grievance and arbitration and the company responded to the APA's Supplement I proposal related to various international crew issues and medical coverage while on international duty.
The company also proposed an innovative provision to the pilot sick pay bank. The provision has three goals:If adopted, these changes will offer financial incentives to those who have unused annual sick accrual at the end of each year, reduce the company's overall costs and simplify a complex and cumbersome system. American's negotiators emphasized to APA that without question, paid time off for illness or injury is an important benefit and this proposal in no way seeks to change that fundamental concept. The company fully supports the rights of a pilot who is ill or injured to use sick days to the full extent allowed by the contract. However, pilot lost time to illness or injury has steadily risen since 2003 to the point that AA has recently had the second-highest percentage in the industry.
Key elements of the company's proposal:Negotiations are scheduled to resume on August 12, 2008.
July 17, 2008
Discussions this week began with a scope-related codesharing issue, discussion of the company's Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) proposal and the company's presentation of a furlough mitigation proposal. The company also responded to an APA data request regarding pension and Supplement Z issues. On Wednesday, the company provided counter proposals to the APA covering Tulsa M&E, check airmen and supervisory flying. On Thursday, the APA responded to the company's distance learning, leaves of absence and satellite base facilities proposals. The parties also had a brief discussion about APA's furlough and paid-time-off proposals, as well as potential tax issues involving the CPA bank.
The parties are scheduled to resume negotiations on Monday, July 21.
July 7, 2008
Company and APA negotiators met this week under the continued guidance of the NMB, as requested by the APA. Much of Monday's and Tuesday's conversations revolved around each side responding to proposals already submitted, including AA responses on Satellite Crew Support, 401Ks and Supplement Z, and APA responses on Sections 21-23 of the contract and the company's Scope, Medical/Benefits and LTD proposals. AA negotiators also provided an analysis of the APA's pension proposal, the findings of which were presented in May.
On Wednesday the company presented its proposal on Distance Learning with analysis and subject matter experts and the two groups had a productive conversation on scheduling. Other issues discussed include Open Time, Co-Terminals, Work Rules, WARN letters and a CRAF Presentation.
The company hopes that APA negotiators will take note of the industry changes recently announced by pilot groups at Delta, Northwest, United and Continental as indicators that changes must be made in order to remain a competitive airline.
June 13, 2008
This week, the negotiating teams met and the company offered a Scope proposal, Benefits proposal and Long-Term Disability proposal. The committees also continued discussion on items including uniforms and moving expenses and received a brief update from the joint scheduling sub-committee.
On Wednesday, the company provided a presentation to mediator Tosi regarding distance learning. The APA declined to attend this briefing session. Negotiations will resume the week of June 30. The committees have also agreed to meet two weeks in the month of July.
May 30, 2008
American and APA negotiators resumed discussions this week under the guidance of mediator Mike Tosi. On Tuesday the company shared a projected cost-out of APA’s Section 6 proposals, indicating that the current economic proposals are simply too costly to be implemented. The company offered to provide additional information of its price analysis but APA negotiators declined. These figures differ from the projected cost-out we provided in the fall of 2007 because they include the cost of proposals APA has submitted since then, such as their pension plan.
Talks continued into Wednesday and Thursday where the groups traded proposals on computer stipends; uniforms; two items within Section 17 of the contract (Filling Vacancies, Displacements, Reinstatements, Furloughs and Recalls); Sections 21 – 23 (System Board of Adjustment) addressing the dispute resolution process; and Section 24 (General Administrative).
Negotiators tentatively agreed to an item within Section 24 stating that copies of an agreement will be distributed electronically. The company is encouraged that the APA is willing to help clear some of the minor contractual issues in order to focus on larger, more pressing topics.
The company will use next week to prepare for negotiating sessions scheduled for June 10-12. As a reminder, we will not be meeting the weeks of June 16 or 23 since the mediator is not available. When applying for NMB mediation, the APA stated that involving a mediator would be an “essential” part of reaching an agreement and talks would be unproductive without NMB guidance. The groups are also tentatively set to meet June 30, July 1 and 2.
May 27, 2008
American recently completed a financial impact analysis of APA's Section 6 proposals and determined that implementing these items would have a serious detrimental impact on the company's economic stability. If we agreed to the APA's suggestions, here are a few of the financial repercussions we could face.
Given these facts, we have informed APA negotiators that these unrealistic requests are not in the best long-term interests of either our company or our pilots and we must reject them.
The APA continues to assert that they aren't concerned about the company's economic situation or current industry conditions. APA stated in a recent podcast that "tying negotiations to economic conditions doesn't serve [the APA's] interests." This is particularly evident in the financially unfeasible proposals the union continues to submit.
The company remains ready and willing to discuss opportunities for pilots to boost their compensation, give them more control over their work schedules and adopt proposals that could improve their quality of life. We realize that these are top priorities. However, any changes that benefit our pilots must be linked to increases in efficiency and productivity so that we can strengthen our company and be better equipped to compete and succeed in our rapidly changing industry. In these mediated negotiations, it is critical that we engage in a process that produces economically-viable proposals and stimulates honest conversations.
May 16, 2008
When the five weeks of facilitated discussions came to a close on April 10, American's negotiators were hopeful that sessions would continue under the facilitation framework. The APA disagreed and resubmitted its request for formal NMB mediation, stating that involving a mediator from the NMB would be "in the interests of both APA and management" and an "essential" part of reaching an agreement.
During the first week of NMB-mediated negotiations, the company suggested closing eight sections and two letters of agreement that required little or no change. This included maintaining existing probation period language of the lesser of 12 months or 400 credited hours, which is the shortest probation period in the industry. The APA rejected the company’s offer and characterized its need to eliminate probation altogether as a “high priority” item.
The union also rejected the company’s moving expense proposal, countering with an economically unfeasible proposal that would increase the company's cost by up to approximately $40 million per year.
Because the APA has indicated on multiple occasions that negotiations would be unproductive without NMB guidance and has rejected outright very reasonable company proposals, the company looks forward to holding future negotiations with Mediator Tosi's assistance. As the Company indicated to APA prior to its application for mediation, when either party requests mediation the NMB assumes control over the process.
May 9, 2008
Company and APA negotiators met on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week for their first NMB-mediated discussions. Talks began with Senior Mediator Zachery M. Jones and Mediator Anthony Mike Tosi making introductions and reviewing the mediation process. Mediators met with both groups together and individually. Mr. Tosi will spearhead the upcoming negotiations.
In order to expedite the negotiations process, Company negotiators proposed closing eight sections and two letters of agreement as current book. The Union rejected the proposal but countered with a revision on moving expenses and Letter I (satellite crew bases).
The Company is reviewing the APA's proposal and negotiations will resume when the parties meet next week on Wednesday and Thursday. Following that, the groups are tentatively scheduled to meet the afternoon of May 27 and all day May 28 and 29.
May 1, 2008
Following Tuesday’s negotiations meeting, the Company asked benefit and pension experts at Towers Perrin to provide American with a complete analysis of the APA's A Plan proposal.
Key Towers Perrin findings:
Continued radical and extreme changes like those suggested by APA leadership coupled with refusals to consider the Company's suggested enhancements to pilot retirement plans are disappointing and troubling. The Company hopes that APA negotiators enter into upcoming mediations with proposals that understand the current economic environment and acknowledge the realities of our business.
April 30, 2008
The negotiating teams met yesterday without the NMB-assigned mediator to discuss the company's proposed pension improvements to the B Plan/401(k) plan as well as a new pension proposal from the APA. Unfortunately, the APA rejected our proposal to modernize the B Plan. Instead, union negotiators presented a number of proposed changes to pilot pension plans that are the latest in a series of unrealistic and short-sighted suggestions that fail to appreciate the serious economic headwinds we're collectively facing.
An initial review of APA's proposed pension changes indicates it would immediately add more than half of a billion dollars in annual, permanent costs. The proposals would also put pilot pensions at greater risk and could potentially have adverse effects on thousands of pilots. In contrast, the company's B Plan/401(k) proposals have been designed to provide pilots with additional flexibility and control of their retirement assets. For details on the company's proposal including a calculator showing the impact on active pilot unit values driven by the February retirements and the current B plan lock-in feature, please see this page.
The APA's own review of AA's current pilot pension plans found that our plans are far and away the most lucrative in the industry. Therefore, we believe it would be far more productive to look at areas of the contract that are in genuine need of review and improvement.
The National Mediation Board assigned Mike Tosi on April 14 to mediate negotiations between the company and the APA. Mr. Tosi is a former US Airways pilot who has experience on both the union and management side of flight operations. He joined the NMB in 2005. The company and APA negotiators have discussed the upcoming negotiating schedule with mediator Tosi. The first joint meeting is scheduled for next week when negotiators will use three days of that week to make introductions and review procedural issues. If time permits, the parties may be able to resume bargaining.
April 10, 2008
Negotiating committees met Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the final week of NMB-facilitated discussions. The company resubmitted its proposal to modernize the Pilot B Plan and provided detailed information regarding how changes to the plan could prevent losses similar to those driven by the high number of February retirements. The parties were also able to agree upon language that will pay protect pilots directly affected by the recent MD80 cancellations.April 4, 2008
This week’s NMB-facilitated discussions continued to focus on scheduling related issues. On Tuesday and Wednesday, negotiating committees reviewed potential Trip Trade and Open Time (TTOT) and SEP enhancements.
By conclusion of the week’s talks on Thursday, parties agreed to create a joint subcommittee to discuss filling of open time and scheduling enhancement issues. This committee, along with the subcommittee on sequence and line construction created last week, will meet separately and prepare presentations to be given to the larger negotiating committee at a later date.
Next week’s discussions will continue on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and are scheduled to include topics such as uniforms, probation periods, hotels, moving expenses and the Pilot B Plan/401 K.
March 28, 2008
Facilitated discussions between the company and the APA resumed this week, with negotiating committees meeting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The agenda, as previously agreed to by both parties, focused on sequence construction and trip selection.
After Thursday’s discussion, both parties agreed to form a subcommittee made up of experts from each side to collaboratively explore sequence and trip building model construction. It is the company's hope that we will be able to create a mutually beneficial system that will serve our pilots' interests while at the same time, improve the efficiency of our daily operations.>
On Tuesday, April 1 subcommittee members will finalize the data that must be considered in order to proceed with the sequence and line construction analysis while negotiating committees continue their talks focusing on other scheduling issues such as open time and reserve flying.
March 14, 2008
The first of five weeks of NMB-Facilitated discussions began on March 11 with American and APA negotiating committees meeting Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Parties tentatively agreed to a proposal on Reinstatement Rights (Section 17). The new agreement provides that all reinstatement rights existing at the date of signing will be grandfathered. Those created after the signing date will be limited to the shorter of 36 months, or the time it takes to complete the longest scheduled training course. Progress was also made on several hotel-related issues.
As originally planned, due to the NMB Facilitator's availability, talks will resume Tuesday, March 25 with trip and line construction. At the close of the week, both sides will determine agenda items for weeks four and five.
American is hopeful that the progress made this week will lead to additional constructive dialogue with the APA about how to balance the needs and priorities of our pilots with the competitive pressures we face.
February 29, 2008
American and APA negotiating committees met this week with the newly appointed NMB Facilitator to discuss the agenda for the five weeks of facilitated sessions. The committees agreed to the following schedule and topics for the first and second sessions.
After the second week of facilitated meetings, both sides will discuss and decide whether or not to continue with the scheduling discussion or move on to other topics. American looks forward to working with the APA during this process and making considerable progress toward creating a contract that positions the Company and its employees for long-term success.
February 22, 2008
The NMB this week notified American and the APA that they have agreed to American's and APA's request for five weeks of facilitated meetings, commencing on March 10, and that they have assigned a Facilitator.
The Company intends to meet internally on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to prepare for a preliminary session with the Facilitator, which is scheduled for Thursday, February 28. The Company's continuing goal in negotiations is to achieve contracts that provide the best possible outcomes for all parties.
February 14, 2008
This afternoon, American and the APA agreed in principle to a negotiations protocol and timeframe. As evidenced by this agreement, American remains committed to constructive and timely negotiations that address the concerns of the pilots and the Company. The major elements of the protocol include:
Separately, American and the APA negotiating committees mutually agreed not to meet during the week of February 21 due to Supplement W arbitration. Regularly scheduled bargaining sessions will resume on Tuesday, February 26.
February 14, 2008Today American provided APA with a response to the protocol proposal the Union delivered to the Company yesterday, Wednesday, February 13, 2008. American believes its proposed changes will allow both parties to meet their mutual goal of achieving a ratifiable agreement in a timely way.
The response incorporates many of the items contained in APA's proposal. In addition, American suggested modifications that will give the negotiating committees time to thoughtfully and deliberately address the interests of both the pilots and American. Highlights of American's response include:
In addition, earlier this week on Tuesday, American and the APA continued their discussions related to Sections 21, 22, and 23 regarding Grievance, Pre-Arbitration Conference, Arbitration and General Administrative Issues.
February 13, 2008
We are pleased that the APA today responded to American's previous requests for a protocol agreement by proposing a negotiating protocol and timeline. We plan to review it carefully and provide our response shortly.
American shares APA's interest in a constructive and timely negotiations process and we agree with the NMB's recommendation that the parties narrow the issues prior to entering formal mediation. Given the importance of this contract to American and our pilots, we want to be sure to get it right.
February 7, 2008
Bargaining sessions continued this week with meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Both parties approved tentative agreements on three contract areas requiring no changes. These covered Seniority; Certificates and Ratings; and Agency Shop and Dues Checkoff (Sections 13, 16 and 25, respectively). These sections represent the first tentative agreements that the two parties have reached.
On Tuesday, the Company revisited the idea of establishing a framework for a protocol agreement. During Wednesday's meeting, a representative from the National Mediation Board explained the grievance mediation services the NMB offers for contract grievance disputes. On Thursday, the two sides discussed Wednesday’s NMB presentation and Sections 21, 22, and 23 regarding Grievance, Pre-Arbitration Conference, Arbitration and General Administrative Issues, which the Company presented during the week of January 21.
Negotiations will resume next week on Tuesday, February 12.
January 31, 2008
The company’s negotiating committee provided the APA’s negotiating committee today with a proposal for modernizing the Pilot B Plan. The proposal is designed to protect and preserve this important and highly-valued pilot benefit, provide additional flexibility and control to pilots and at the same time, simplify the program. The APA was also provided with a comprehensive summary and highlights of the plan.
Yesterday, company negotiators presented proposals regarding three sections on Seniority; Certificates and Ratings; and Agency Shop and Dues Checkoff (Sections 13, 16 and 25, respectively). Neither party has suggested modifications to these sections and it is the company’s aim to establish momentum by closing issues where no prior contention has been presented.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Tuesday, February 5.
January 25, 2008
The negotiating committees met on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. On Tuesday, sub-committees discussed Age 65 issues. On Wednesday, Section 6 negotiations continued and the company presented proposals on the sections of the contract that deal with Grievance, Arbitration and General Administrative issues (Sections 21-24). At Thursday's session, the company presented a revised Section 23 proposal based on Wednesday's discussion. The Company also shared a series of Age 65 questions and answers and solicited feedback from the APA on both the Q&A and the revised Section 23 proposal.
January 14, 2008
The company delivered this letter to the APA today, expressing its interest in maintaining joint control of the negotiation schedule and continuing direct bargaining with the APA.
January 10, 2008
Bargaining sessions resumed this week with both parties continuing their Age 65 retirement implementation discussions on Tuesday. The company reviewed a number of Age 65 related administrative and procedural issues with the APA. The company also reviewed a series of questions that are pending FAA clarification and indicated that it will be posting additional information and guidance on the AAPilots website on this important issue as soon as it becomes available.
On Wednesday and Thursday, after recent discussions and reviewing proposals from the APA committee on pilot interests and priorities regarding the contract, the Company proposed a number of enhancements to its original scheduling, sequence protection and reserve proposal. These include:
The company also invited its Ops Planning and Performance subject matter expert to participate in the negotiating session to discuss the impact of flight duty limits on allocations and quality of bid lines. The company's proposal is available here.
In addition to its scheduling and reserve proposal, the Company provided proposals on three sections of the contract where it believes the two sides are in agreement and the contract requires no change (Sections 13, 16 and 25). The goal in bringing these items to the table would be to resolve them quickly and focus on those areas of the contract that will have the most impact on both the Company and its pilots.
The Company also touched on a previous proposal guaranteeing that it would not furlough pilots as a result of productivity gains achieved as part of the bargaining process - a provision it has already discussed informally at the table.
Recognizing that AA pilots are highly invested in the company, AA negotiators reiterated their desire to focus on the long-term success of the company and its pilots. The Company indicated that it will be offering additional proposals that focus on ways to enhance the airline's day-to-day operations, provide pilots more control and flexibility in scheduling their time, and sustain a cost structure that allows for stability and growth in a competitive environment.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the APA notified the Company that it would be filing a formal mediation request with the National Mediation Board.
