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Latest AA rumors

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aa73

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Several instructors at GSW with the same story, so it's somewhat credible....

Up to 70 aircraft to be parked, which equates to about 1000 furloughs. Also, Crew planning has been heard saying that all future bid vacancies are cancelled pending a couple of weeks... probably waiting for 3Q results to come out.

God I hope I'm wrong... we are so short staffed already.
 
Heard something very similar today, although not sure how "in the know" the source is. Rumor has it roughly 200 additional furloughs in the near future which could grow up to 1000. Not a good rumor so hopefully this stays in the "rumor" column. Hopefully the next few months will prove this one false.

Best of Luck at AA
 
Which planes could be parked? The 767-200s and AB6's? Maybe some old MD80s?



Bye Bye--General Lee
 
Sandman,


I will PM you.


Bye Bye--General Lee
 
ok, could ya' pm me too, please. i've been curious about that also. thanks.
 
APA email

Captain Jim Sovich, Boston Domicile Chairman, and Captain Gary Boettcher, Washington Domicile Chairman, warned of additional impending furloughs of American Airlines pilots.

On Tuesday, Captain Sovich wrote the following to the Boston domicile:

"One of our more junior First Officers sent an e-mail lately asking if, in my opinion, he should be seeking other employment. My response, at this point in time, is to start looking for a job. If it were me and a job was offered, I would try to delay acceptance in order to receive my furlough pay [11/2 months pay for four years service, two months for five years service (page 17-14 of the 2003 contract)]. If I could not delay, the decision would be difficult. Make no mistake, I fully expect AA to announce more furloughs in the very near term. The number of furloughs will depend on whether they are solely efficiency driven or also include parking aircraft."

Earlier today, Captain Boettcher sent the following comments to the Washington domicile: "With the two weakest quarters facing AA, fuel prices that are nearly 400% higher than last September (meaning more than a BILLION dollars in unplanned expenses) and the devastating effects of four back to back hurricanes in the Caribbean and Florida, combined with the fact that AA is about 100% leveraged and has little spare cash, I'll dare to say that all is not well. The news next Wednesday when AA corporate releases our 3Q04 results and speculates about 4Q04 futures will look much like a wilted rose. Two months ago things looked fairly rosy for American Airlines. This rapid slide back into the red should make you appreciate how fragile the future of AA really is. You've heard rumors about more furloughs and potential a/c groundings. I can't tell you today if the rumors are true or not, but from my research and reviews throughout the APSEA negotiation process I can't imagine how AA could NOT furlough and ground some a/c in the relatively near future."


I should've stayed on the porch, but no! Looks like I stepped in it running with the big dogs!
 
And a similar view from Miami.....

Fellow MIA Pilots,

Over the past week rumors have been swirling around about
potential furloughs. The number that has been bandied about is
1000 further furloughs of our brothers and sisters. I always work
on the premise that there's a kernel of truth in any rumor so
let's take a close look at what we do know and try to flesh out
this rumor.

As you know AMR will announce third quarter (Q3) earnings on
Wednesday, October 20th. I don't need to tell any of you that the
current price of oil is hurting us. Also, you know that very few
of our fare increases have stuck. The cost of jet fuel and the
apparent lack of pricing power have decimated our revenue.
Additionally, our inability to hedge fuel last year has put us at
a disadvantage to our competitors such as Southwest. Labor cost
is not the issue. Any business plan that did not factor in fuel
at over $50 a barrel was doomed to fail this past quarter. In
short, the cost of fuel is the straw that may break the camel's
back. Were it not for the cost of oil it is likely the rumor
would be about profit sharing.

What's a company to do? I do not know, but I can make a few
educated guesses. The cost of fuel is up and demand for our
product will decline, as it usually does, during the first
quarter of any year. My guess, and it is just that, is there will
be a reduction in flying and subsequent furloughs sometime early
next year. How much and how many, if any, is a decision that I am
not a party to. A prudent junior pilot would probably factor all
this in to any decisions concerning their finances and other job
opportunities that may be available to them.

It is my belief that this rumor will be answered by AMR this
Wednesday. Due to the volatile nature of this message I
considered not sending it, but I feel that not acknowledging this
rumor would be a mistake. If you disagree with my decision please
ignore this message.

CA Tom Frazer
At the APA Board meeting in DFW.
 
General Lee said:
Which planes could be parked? The 767-200s and AB6's? Maybe some old MD80s?



Bye Bye--General Lee
General,

Most likely it would be some of those. The Airbus rumors have been circulating for a while, and some of our oldest 80s are scheduled to retire soon...

In light of the fact that every other major is recalling pilots, this is especially bad news for us.

Good luck to you guys at DL.

aa73
 
aa73 said:
General,

Most likely it would be some of those. The Airbus rumors have been circulating for a while, and some of our oldest 80s are scheduled to retire soon...

In light of the fact that every other major is recalling pilots, this is especially bad news for us.

Good luck to you guys at DL.

aa73
Why would we park the Airbuses when we are leasing them? It would seem foolish to park an aircraft that we are just going to have to keep making lease payments on. I have never flown the bird but I keep hearing what a wonderful fit it is in the Carribbean.

As for the S-80's, I heard that we just pulled a few out of the desert.

Anyone with more knowledge on this care to comment?
 
A300 leases, 30 notice to return them

Dangerkitty said:
Why would we park the Airbuses when we are leasing them? It would seem foolish to park an aircraft that we are just going to have to keep making lease payments on. I have never flown the bird but I keep hearing what a wonderful fit it is in the Carribbean.

As for the S-80's, I heard that we just pulled a few out of the desert.

Anyone with more knowledge on this care to comment?
I believe the A300 leases have a clause that they can be returned with a 30 notice. It was an Uncle Bob deal in 1988.

One of the "base blasts" or APA emails mentioned the A300 might be on the park list. Check it out.
 
Here's more good news at AA.

This is an excerpt from Ralph Hunter's (APA president) email he sent yesterday to the membership.


It is abundantly clear that with oil at $54/barrel, there is some amount of our domestic narrowbody flying that simply doesn't make sense. I think we owe our honest assessments to our junior members. If they're junior to First Officer F.L. Steed, they should carefully consider their options. If they have viable alternatives now that may disappear, they should seriously consider leaving. Our industry and our profession clearly has some more trouble spots in the future.
 
Meanwhile Eagle continues to grow......
...with AA furloughs filling the jet captain vacancies. Also, at least 27 Eagle turboprop captains (ie, 6 year future FO's) to be displaced as of a bid that came out yesterday.
 
Last edited:
Does anyone know the approximate hire date of the guy at the top of the potential furlough list? I have an old buddy there but don't really want to call him with a rumor.

Thanks,
Catfish
 
CatfishVT9 said:
Does anyone know the approximate hire date of the guy at the top of the potential furlough list? I have an old buddy there but don't really want to call him with a rumor.

Thanks,
Catfish
AA guy - Hired April 1999
TWA guy - Hired Jun 1988
 
CatfishVT9 said:
Does anyone know the approximate hire date of the guy at the top of the potential furlough list? I have an old buddy there but don't really want to call him with a rumor.

Thanks,
Catfish
6 April 99

Unit
 
jetexas said:
...with AA furloughs filling the jet captain vacancies. Also, at least 27 Eagle turboprop captains (ie, 6 year future FO's) to be displaced as of a bid that came out yesterday.
Jetexas,

How many furloughed AA guys are taking jet vacancies vs the actual # of jet vacancies? I was told that it was less than half.

I don't mean to prod but if this was such a bad deal then why did the Eagle membership vote it in?

Regards,
aa73
 
AA guy - Hired April 1999
TWA guy - Hired Jun 1988

Or you could say: AA guy hired April 1999
TWA guy hired April 2001
 

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