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The letter below was emailed to the AFA BOD members this week. We will show a PowerPoint presentation to the committee and on the floor of the BOD meeting next week. The presentation will mirror a lot of this information included in the letter. 

Thank you for your support,

Mike Flores, President
US Airways Master Executive Council

-----------------

October 12, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen:

At next week's Board of Directors Meeting you will be asked to consider an Agenda Item that seeks to alter the established AFA Date of Hire Merger Policy (DOH). The policy, adopted in 1986, has served as a steadying force for over two decades. The policy was adopted, in part, to prevent the will of one membership from overcoming that of another. Along with numerous contractual provisions and transition agreements the policy has proven to be the most fair and equitable means for merging seniority lists. US Airways has used the policy to successfully merge seniority lists in three mergers; US Air/PSA, US Air/Piedmont and US Air/Trump (Eastern) Shuttle. Even prior to the formal adoption of the policy, DOH was used in the Allegheny/Mohawk merger. While the memberships' allegiance to their former carriers remained, the animosity or bitterness caused by an arbitrated or unilateral settlement of seniority lists has never been part of our history. Although this Agenda Item is being brought forward in direct response to the US Airways/America West merger the decision made at this meeting will follow us forever. The authors of this Agenda Item state their intent is not to throw out the DOH policy entirely, but rather to allow for an "alternative formula" whenever one membership decides the DOH policy does not work for that membership. The net result of the Agenda Item WILL throw out the Date of Hire policy and replace it with no policy. 

I am sure you have received the "Fairness is Relative" DVD distributed by the America West AFA leadership. It attempts to create the impression DOH is not fair and equitable in the US Airways/America West merger. The DVD does not accurately represent the facts. We will offer a presentation to the BOD that I believe will show both an accurate representation of the facts and also that the DOH policy is fair and equitable. I am sending this letter to you as a prelude to that presentation. 

A complete analysis of our seniority list was not done by the America West AFA leadership. Our current population shows 8665 positions on the seniority list. Within that population there are 4470 Active (AVL) members. Our list still includes 1159 Extended Indefinite Leave (EXL) flight attendants and 1692 Involuntary Furloughed (FUR) flight attendants. EXL flight attendants can only be recalled after the FUR flight attendants are recalled. The list also includes 737 flight attendants who elected to take a Voluntary Furlough with Limited Recall (VFLR) in 2005. The VFLR program provides for a cash payment and travel privileges in exchange for the furlough. Anyone participating in this offer would only be recalled after all the FUR and EXL flight attendants were recalled. A VFLR participant would return with new hire status for both competitive bidding and longevity. US Airways will offer another VFLR program in 2006 for at least 323 positions. In addition, we have over 300 flight attendants slated to retire between now and the end of 2005. As a result of the downsizing and life altering concessions we have made in the last three years our membership is shrinking with a significant portion of the attrition coming off the top of the seniority list. AWA AFA makes the claim there are over 2100 people senior to their most senior member. In fact the number is currently 1365 and will certainly be much lower by the projected integration date of mid 2007.

A closer look at the US Airways seniority list reveals the complete integration of Allegheny, PSA, Piedmont and the Trump (Eastern) Shuttle. The number one position on our seniority list is occupied by a former Trump Shuttle flight attendant. Of the top 1365 flight attendants on our active seniority list only 709 were original Allegheny/US Air; the remaining members are from the other merger partners. The US Airways seniority list is a living "case study" of the AFA Date of Hire Merger Policy. 

By nature mergers are never equitable for every member. Mergers require years to consummate and during that time the members realize no competitive disadvantage. After the integration, when there is growth there are vacancies and transfers. If there are no vacancies there are no transfers. There will be no "bumping" or "system flush". A multi-base airline will always have transfers based on vacancies. A permanent "static position" simply does not exist in a multi-base airline. A merger asks every member to share in the risk and reward two companies create by merging. Mergers should never be a windfall for one group at the expense of another and we do not seek that outcome. We have a long history of the cause and effect of the DOH merger policy in a multi-base airline. America West does not, and rather than educate the membership, their leadership has chosen the path of least resistance. Rather than inform their membership of the new flying opportunities the merger will create the AWA leadership has let rumor and fear justify Agenda Item # 3. 

Management has decided to interfere in this matter as well. Management has told the PHX employees they don't believe anyone should ever suffer a change to their "comfort level" or to their competitive bidding position. Simply put, management wants a merger but does not want to merge. Management has no business interfering in union business. We can't allow management to dictate union policy. This merger was put together to insure the survivability of both carriers. America West did not save US Airways. The merger saved both carriers, for now, in an industry that will further consolidate. 

No merger policy, "alternative formula", DOH or otherwise, will provide a universally fair and equitable outcome for every member. The Date of Hire policy has proven to be the most stable and consistent policy to begin a merged integration. There are other ways to solve problems and change perceptions short of throwing out the current policy.

This is not a vote "FOR or "AGAINST" US Airways or America West. This vote will affect all AFA members. On Behalf of the US Airways MEC, the US Airways members and all present and future members of AFA I respectfully ask you to vote "AGAINST" Agenda Item #3. 


Thank you,

Mike Flores, President
US Airways Master Executive Council

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