• Bankruptcy Information - Proof of Claim
• Revised December 2002 Timeline
• Annual BOD Meeting
• UA Flight Attendants Have Begun Negotiations To Avoid Bankruptcy

Recently, US Airways mailed to its employees a Proof of Claim, which is the form that creditors must use if they believe they have a claim against the company.  Included with the Proof of Claim is a Notice of Bar Date for Filing Proof of Claim.  It is critical that every flight attendant carefully review the Notice.  It describes the procedure and sets a deadline of November 4, 2002 for filing a Proof of Claim.  Even more importantly, the Notice lists the types of claims for which a creditor does not have to submit a Proof of Claim.

Based upon these exceptions, it is anticipated that very few employees will have to file a Proof of Claim.  First, employees do not have to file a Proof of Claim if the claim arises from or is based upon the AFA-US Airways Collective Bargaining Agreement (See paragraph (g) of the Notice).

Second, no creditor has to file a Proof of Claim that is based upon his or her ownership interest in or possession of stock or any other equity security.  This paragraph does state that a Proof of Claim needs to be filed if there is a claim is based upon the sale or purchase of stock or other US Airways equity securities or claims for damages or rescission based upon the purchase or sale of such securities (See Paragraph H of Notice).  This exception would apply to persons who have claims against US Airways relating to purchase or sale of securities.

In the rare instance where a flight attendant has a claim against US Airways for personal injury, damage or any wrongful act that is not based upon the Collective Bargaining Agreement, he or she would need to file a Proof of Claim by November 4, 2002.  An example where a flight attendant would need to file a Proof of Claim is if he or she has a disputed claim for Worker's Compensation.

Finally, it is important to understand that in a bankruptcy, the debtor routinely provides a Proof of Claim to its employees. Here, US Airways sent Proofs of Claim to not only its employees but any individual or entity who it believes may possibly have a claim against it.  Therefore, merely being sent a Proof of Claim and Notice should not be construed as a determination by US Airways that the recipient needs to file a Proof of Claim.
 

Revised December 2002 Timeline

The change in the timeline will allow flight attendants to bid those blocks that will be vacated by Flight Attendants taking the voluntary furlough (VF2). Aditionally, vacation rebid should allow Flight Attendant's to capture the vacation time that has been vacated by those Flight Attendants taking VF2.

At the request of AFA, the Company has revised the timeline for bidding of December lines and schedules such that the new dates are as follows:

10/25/02  Primary Lines close
10/26/02  SAP opens
10/30/02  SAP closes (BOS, PHL, PHW, PIT, PIW)
10/31/02  SAP closes (CLT, CLW, DCA, LGA)
11/01/02  Holiday drop opens
11/02/02  Holiday drop closes
11/08/02  Secondary Lines open
11/13/02  Secondary Lines close
11/19/02  Reserves open
11/24/02  Reserves closeAll deadlines are at 1800 on the dates shown.
 

Annual BOD Meeting

The Association of Flight Attendants completed their annual Board Of Directors meeting in San Francisco on October 18, 2002. Voting members of the BOD consist of all Local Council Presidents from every airline within AFA. The 2003 budget received unanimous approval by the BOD. There will be no dues increase in 2003.

Leslie Miller
Association Of Flight Attendants
Secretary/Treasurer
US Airways Master Executive Council
 

United Airlines Flight Attendants Have Begun Negotiations To Avoid Bankruptcy
Reinforce need for negotiated solution to United's financial crisis

CHICAGO * Representatives of the United Airlines Master Executive Council of the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, began meeting with airline management recently in hopes of reaching agreement on changes to the Flight Attendant Contract that will provide United management with the savings it needs from the Flight Attendants to avoid bankruptcy. This is the statement of AFA United MEC President Greg Davidowitch:

"The Flight Attendants understand that it will likely take the participation of all labor groups, creditors, lenders and lessors for the airline to successfully restructure outside of bankruptcy. It is now up to United management to proceed with the fairness and equity needed in these delicate negotiations, recognizing the unique characteristics of each labor group and achieving individual cost savings packages that meet the airline's needs. All of this must fall within the framework developed by the Union Coalition. The money is there, United must now show its willingness to work with us to get access to it and the other strategic initiatives contained in the Union Coalition Framework.

"Our goal is to provide stability for our company and to fix our airline for the long term. The only way to do that is through a cooperative relationship. To that end, the Flight Attendants have entered into direct negotiations with United. The goal of the talks is to develop a negotiated solution to the airline's problems outside the bankruptcy process. The Flight Attendants will have the opportunity to vote on any agreement reached by the parties.

"Flight Attendants are not entering these negotiations just for the sake of providing management with concessions. As part of any cost savings package, Flight Attendants must be rewarded with equity and profit sharing for our investment in the airline that will reward us when the airline turns around. In the event United is unable to secure the concessions needed from all constituencies, including lessors, lenders and creditors, and bankruptcy becomes necessary, we are also demanding a guarantee that management will not seek any further concessions if the Flight Attendant membership ratifies a concessionary agreement.

"Flight Attendants are the airline's front-line employees. This airline has a much better future if we work together to solve our problems. Our new CEO, Glenn Tilton, has shown a desire to work with us. We are hopeful and have every reason to believe that relationship will continue. In the short time since our new CEO has been at the helm of United, we have been able to accomplish what once was considered impossible by working together."

More than 50,000 Flight Attendants, including the 26,000 Flight Attendants at United, join together to form AFA, the world's largest Flight Attendant union. Visit us at www.unitedafa.org.