August 26, 2005

Special MEC Meeting
A special MEC meeting was called by me and the LEC Presidents from Charlotte and Philadelphia with an agenda item for the recall of the MEC President Teddy Xidas. The current MEC President was awarded a VFLR effective December 2005. From the date of the award, I have heard from a number of DCA flight attendants about their concerns that she would be negotiating a contract and fence agreement with the pending merger of America West and US Airways. As one person put it "She doesn't have a dog in the fight". With talks set to begin the end of August concerning the fence agreement and contract negotiations, many flight attendants expressed to me that they want a MEC President who was in it for the long haul. Calling the meeting was a difficult decision as I don't take recalling a person lightly. In the past I have witnessed people using the recall issue as an attack on the person because of their personal feelings about the individual and not about the business of the union. I treat the union as a business. We are in the business of protecting your contract and benefits and should not have anything to do with personalities or conflicts over how a person approaches a problem. After the announcement of the meeting and agenda, I viewed a number of character assassinations about me on message boards associated with aviation websites. Some people feel the need to hide behind screen names on these websites to attack others. I sign my name to everything I say and do and refuse to participate in these message boards. While I know who was posting these attacks on me, what does it have to do with your day-to-day issues? Nothing! Once again, I view this as a business of protecting your wages, benefits and work rules. During the meeting a deal was reached that the current MEC President will resign effective October 15th and the MEC will hold a special meeting in August to elect a new MEC President. The MEC unanimously agreed to this deal. My concern was to have the new MEC President involved in these negotiations from the beginning as an active participant and I believe that this agreement meets the concerns of the DCA flight attendants.

At a special meeting on August 16th, Mike Flores (LEC President CLT) was elected the new MEC President by a majority of the MEC. Following that meeting the MEC was made aware of a document concerning Ms. Xidas and a company official. Ms. Xidas then resigned as MEC President and the new MEC President-Elect assumed the office on August 22nd. Ms Xidas will continue to serve as the LEC President of Pittsburgh. I would like to thank her for her passion and dedication for the flight attendants at US Airways. After a difficult couple of weeks I consider the issue closed and now look forward to the many issues surrounding the merger between US Airways and America West. 

Knives, Ice Picks, Bows and Arrows
The Stupid Administration, or TSA, and the Department of Homeland Security are currently considering allowing passengers to bring on board commercial flights knives, ice picks and bows and arrows. When I first got wind of this I thought it was a joke. THIS IS NO JOKE! I'm not sure if these dim bulbs watch the news but I remember what happened on September 11th. How can these idiots possibly think that this is a good idea? Every flight attendant and their family and neighbors need to go to www.afanet.org and fill out a protest letter that can be sent to the "powers that be" on this issue. If we do nothing then this will happen! If these changes are allowed I believe we should have a "Bring a knife to work day". Not just one knife but a dozen, then board with them in our hand and have them on our hip during service in the cabin. AFA has received some good press on this issue but we need to keep up the pressure. IF YOU DO NOTHING - PASSENGERS SOON WILL BE COMING ON WITH WEAPONS THAT CAN BE USED TO KILL YOU!

Personal Care Leave
With the new agreement that was reached between AFA and US Airways, more than 4 sick calls in a rolling 12 months is considered excessive. In the many meetings I have had with flight attendants and management the past few months, almost all of these situations could have been dealt with if the flight attendant had signed up for personal care leave prior to these meetings. If you have a chronic medical issue I would encourage you to have your physician fill out the PCL paperwork to avoid accumulating sick calls which may place you on DCP. If you have any questions about PCL please call one of you LEC officers to see if you meet these requirements. 

DCA E-Line
I encourage all flight attendants in Washington to sign up for the DCA E-line at www.afausairways.org. I will continue to provide newsletters in crew mailboxes as well. I often find while writing a newsletter that by the time I get it to the printer and in your box some of the information may have changed. This will also save your local council some money on printing cost as well. Being a small local council we have limited funds and this will provide us with a cost neutral way of getting the latest news to you.

MEC Meets with New CEO
On August 18th the US Airways MEC met with Doug Parker, the new CEO of the combined airline. Mr. Parker has been with America West for over 10 years. Much of the meeting was a "meet and greet". He sees the combined carrier being profitable even in the current economic climate of high fuel prices. He also stated that he did not see any base closings on the horizon but would keep us informed if that should change. While Mr. Parker wanted to discuss the issue of seniority integration, Pat Friend (AFA International President) stated that it was our issue and we will handle it. The Constitution of AFA states that it will be by date of hire. The meeting served as an opportunity to get to know Mr. Parker and his leadership style. I am encouraged by the fact that Mr. Parker has been with America West for over a decade and am hopeful that this will end the revolving door of CEO's that we have seen at US Airways in the past few years.

In Solidarity,

Alin Boswell
LEC President DCA