IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM APFA PRESIDENT JOHN WARD
April 5, 2003
Dear APFA Flight Attendant:
In the next few days, you will receive a detailed explanation of the
proposed economic restructuring plan from American Airlines. Please
read everything carefully. Your future – indeed, the future of every
flight attendant at American Airlines – can depend on how you vote.
These documents are coming to you after weeks of intensive talks with
the carrier. But let there be no mistake – these talks were not
“negotiations†– not in the real sense of the word. The
Company determined the amount of cuts in Flight Attendant labor costs --
$340 million – and it determined how those costs would be valued.
We are angry with the Company for taking this approach and we’re sure
you are as well. But we can’t afford to let that anger dictate our
actions.
On Monday, March 31, we agreed with the Company that we would send this
proposal to you because the very real and very imminent threat of
bankruptcy was staring us in the face. The Company was literally
minutes away from filing for bankruptcy in New York when we did this.
Those papers were not filed. We believed that doing what we could to
avoid a bankruptcy filing was in the best interests of the Flight
Attendant group.
There are no promises from the Company that American Airlines won’t
go into bankruptcy down the line, even if you vote to ratify this
proposal. However, if this proposal is not ratified, we have no doubt
that the Company will file for bankruptcy.
There’s no question that this proposal represents a severe change in
the nature of our jobs and how we’re compensated for those jobs.
There are mechanisms for recovering some of what we would give up over
the life of this contract – but only some. There would be a long road
ahead to get back to where we are today at the end of this proposed
agreement.
But the fact is that there is a strong likelihood that we could be even
worse off if the Company had filed for bankruptcy last Monday. Included
with the enclosed information are facts about the cuts the Company
intended to ask a bankruptcy judge to make had we not agreed to send
this proposal to you.
I urge you again – read the enclosed information very carefully.
It’s not pretty. But it does represent perhaps the best chance we
have at this time for keeping American Airlines out of bankruptcy –
and if, despite ratification, the Company decides to file for bankruptcy
sometime later, it represents a basis from which we can argue against
even further cuts that could be imposed by a bankruptcy court.
The stakes are high. The outcome of this vote is critical for your
future and for the future of your fellow Flight Attendants. Make sure
you’re informed, that you carefully consider the alternatives faced
– then vote.
Sincerely,
John Ward
April 5, 2003
Dear APFA Flight Attendant:
In the next few days, you will receive a detailed explanation of the
proposed economic restructuring plan from American Airlines. Please
read everything carefully. Your future – indeed, the future of every
flight attendant at American Airlines – can depend on how you vote.
These documents are coming to you after weeks of intensive talks with
the carrier. But let there be no mistake – these talks were not
“negotiations†– not in the real sense of the word. The
Company determined the amount of cuts in Flight Attendant labor costs --
$340 million – and it determined how those costs would be valued.
We are angry with the Company for taking this approach and we’re sure
you are as well. But we can’t afford to let that anger dictate our
actions.
On Monday, March 31, we agreed with the Company that we would send this
proposal to you because the very real and very imminent threat of
bankruptcy was staring us in the face. The Company was literally
minutes away from filing for bankruptcy in New York when we did this.
Those papers were not filed. We believed that doing what we could to
avoid a bankruptcy filing was in the best interests of the Flight
Attendant group.
There are no promises from the Company that American Airlines won’t
go into bankruptcy down the line, even if you vote to ratify this
proposal. However, if this proposal is not ratified, we have no doubt
that the Company will file for bankruptcy.
There’s no question that this proposal represents a severe change in
the nature of our jobs and how we’re compensated for those jobs.
There are mechanisms for recovering some of what we would give up over
the life of this contract – but only some. There would be a long road
ahead to get back to where we are today at the end of this proposed
agreement.
But the fact is that there is a strong likelihood that we could be even
worse off if the Company had filed for bankruptcy last Monday. Included
with the enclosed information are facts about the cuts the Company
intended to ask a bankruptcy judge to make had we not agreed to send
this proposal to you.
I urge you again – read the enclosed information very carefully.
It’s not pretty. But it does represent perhaps the best chance we
have at this time for keeping American Airlines out of bankruptcy –
and if, despite ratification, the Company decides to file for bankruptcy
sometime later, it represents a basis from which we can argue against
even further cuts that could be imposed by a bankruptcy court.
The stakes are high. The outcome of this vote is critical for your
future and for the future of your fellow Flight Attendants. Make sure
you’re informed, that you carefully consider the alternatives faced
– then vote.
Sincerely,
John Ward
