Most were not early. Per the contract, "early" is before age 60.

Another great contract provision. Is AA the last of the legacy contracts? It hearkens back to a different day. As one CEO has said, "we'll never return to 2000 wages." Translated: thanks to 9/11 we were able to knock you down and we're never going to let you up again.

In what regard do you consider AA a legacy contract?

This has happened before when there is a large drop in the price of AA stock.

A pension?

Co has asked 777 pilots to defer their vacations due to shortages on that fleet. Umm... leverage, anyone?

Gonna get real interesting here if another large batch hangs it up Oct 1. Co cannot recall fast enough as it is.

It appears negotiations are still stalled on scope and pay. Nobody is budging.

If the pilots at AA are similar to pilots at other airlines, those 777 pilots will defer their vacations.

That didn't happen at Delta, I doubt it will happen at AA. While legal, the administrative and legal nightmares this would cause would not be worth the money recovered.

A provision that actually advantages the pilot.

Rules that are more than simply FAR.

A pension.

Some dignity when you checkin at the gate.

Wow. Surprised only 111 retired
 

Allied Pilots Association

Section Six Update & Important Career Decisions

August 27, 2011 09:36

Fellow Boston Pilots,

---- and I just returned from ten days of Board of Directors meetings at APA HQ in Dallas. The Board conducted extensive confidential discussions regarding our negotiating positions in a wide variety of areas. We also received detailed financial briefings on AMR from ALPA’s expert E&FA team and from Mr. Filiberto Agusti, a nationally renowned attorney who specializes in the corporate restructuring process.

Let me begin this discussion by categorically stating: your APA Board of Directors remains universally committed to obtaining an INDUSTRY LEADING CONTRACT. Nothing less is acceptable.

During our ten days in Dallas the Board met with the AMR CEO Gerard Arpey, AMR President Tom Horton and AMR Senior VP of Human Resources Jeff Brundage. This was plain and simple a good faith effort offered to senior management by your union leadership to allow us to go face-to-face and address our Section Six concerns. Each of you has been e-mailed a copy of our opening statement presented at that meeting. Suffice it to say, as a result of this two-hour exchange we made our contractual expectations going forward patently clear to senior AMR management.

As we approach the six-year point in this process the APA Negotiating Committee and AMR negotiators including Mr. Brundage, are moving off-site next week in attempt to move forward with the Section Six process. It’s not lost on ---- and I that each of you has grown understandably impatient with AMR’s intransigence. And I’d be lying if I told you “we’re almost there.” The fact remains we still have significant differences in our negotiating positions, especially with reference to scope. However, we’ve agreed to make one last attempt to move the ball downfield. I remain guardedly hopeful we can make meaningful progress.

Now on to a much less pleasant subject, but one I feel obligated to discuss. Even if you’ve disregarded virtually everything I’ve said during the preceding five years, please listen to this:

For the record, I am legally bound by certain confidentiality agreements in order to participate in the negotiating process. Accordingly, I am limited in what I may tell you regarding specifics in AMR’s financial condition, our A-Fund pension funding level and AMR’s business strategy going forward.

The above said, it is my personal opinion there exists a whole range of possible financial outcomes for AMR completely irrespective of the Section Six process. One of those possible outcomes is a Chapter 11 reorganization. I do not say this to scare you, or suggest Chapter 11 is a highly probable event. But it is very clearly a possibility going forward. And not necessarily because of an AMR minimum cash threshold, but instead and as stated by Mr. Agusti, to maximize shareholder value by lessening corporate cost structure and dismissing unwanted debt.

Yes, I know it sounds strange, however Chapter 11 can actually be a corporate strategy regardless of cash position and any pain inflicted upon employees during that reorganization process. Have no misconceptions and please rest assured, you and I will have virtually no say in this corporate decision should it occur. As they might say, “Hey, it’s just business.”

Does this change our negotiating strategy or resolve? Not one bit. In fact I’ll repeat my assertion above: your APA Board of Directors remains universally committed to obtaining an INDUSTRY LEADING CONTRACT. Nothing less is acceptable. Period.

The reason I bring this critical matter to your attention is because of the grievous impact any Chapter 11 reorganization might have on our pension, lump sum payout or otherwise. It is therefore imperative that each of you take the time to study that impact and make your personal plans accordingly. I’m not proffering financial advice or making recommendations. Instead, my sole objective here it to ensure each of you is educated on the matter such that you may make a decision which best defends your personal financial well-being. In short folks, I don’t want to see anybody get harmed!

In an effort to educate our membership on A-Fund funding levels and the effects of Chapter 11 reorganization on our A-Fund pension, APA Pension Committee Chairman ------- has created an excellent update. This information has been vetted through our Washington, DC legal counsel James & Hoffman and outside counsel Mr. Agusti, and has been updated subsequent to ----'s most recent base blast.

In Unity,
BOS Vice Chairman