President:
This week, I attended MRO Americas in Atlanta to help kick off TWU International’s involvement in our base and line mechanics competitions. A big round of applause to our teams.
I want to share a conversation I had with a crew chief that was alarming to me. We were talking about how the crew chiefs and crews are determined (dodgeball conversations). He shared with me that he is a fairly new employee who decided to take a crew chief position and that his crew is small, and because they are fairly new employees, they haven’t gained much experience. Here is what got me. He said he felt like, at times, what they were doing was dangerous because of their combined lack of experience. I have shared that conversation with VP Emerson and a Director here in Tulsa. They both agreed that it is a challenge, and they are doing everything they can to minimize it. I simply want to ask everyone who does have experience to continue or start if you haven’t, to mention to the newer employees that if you are not sure about something or need help understanding a task, all you have to do is ask.
Please take care of each other and let’s all go home in one piece.
I believe Don, Jay, and I will start in Hangar 6 interviewing Crew Chiefs and Crews next week in preparation for our arbitration case over the Presidential grievance on Dodgeball.
I can be reached 24/7 at 918-636-6089.
Vice President:
The May Re-bid will be electronic. You should have received emails in your AA email account on the process. The dates are as follows:
Monday, April 14 @ 8:00 am – shift bid is open for preliminary preferences.
Monday, April 21-22 @ 8:00 am – Live bid (5-minute windows) conducted for Crew Chiefs, TCC, Sr. Planners, and Inspection.
Wednesday, April 23-25 @ 8:00 am – Live bid (5-minute windows) conducted for all other workgroups.
Monday, May 12, 2025- New shift bid starts.
The electronic bid lets everyone see what shift, days off, and who you will work with during your bid. Please go into the Bid application and choose your preliminary preferences, like the paper bid sheet, you would have filled out previously before your 5-minute window of the live bid. During your 5-minute window, you could watch to see, for example, if you swap with someone what they received and then bid to accommodate your shift swap schedule, giving you an advantage you didn’t have before.
April Union Steward Meeting is Apr 14, 2025.
April Membership Meeting is Apr 28, 2025. We hope to see you there.
Recording Secretary:
- Review March Minutes for errors and corrections
- Assisted Members and Retirees walk in at Hall
- Assisted Members with EAP issues
- Posted notices as required on Bulletin Boards
Chairman of Maintenance:
AMC Attendance
This week, Dale, Marla Jay, and I attended the AMC. We watched the AA competitors, who all did an outstanding job. Congratulations to everyone who participated.
Safety Reminder
Before starting any job assignment, please double-check your equipment to ensure everything is up-to-date and safe to use.
A&P License Information
Several people have asked questions about getting signed off as an AMT. If you’re interested in pursuing this, the FAST TRACK program in OKC is a very helpful resource.
Weekly Work Items
- Addressing safety concerns
Joe Brown
(918) 284-9666
JBrown@twumail.org
Chairman of Material Logistics Specialist:
Headcount: We have 482 MLS on Base with 24 on LOA.
New Hires: 12 new hires will start on 4/28.
Bids & Transfers: No postings this weekend.
Grievances: We have five open grievances, and we are current on them. Shop Stewards, you have been doing a great job.
May Bid: If you have any questions, please call me.
Entertainment & Welfare: The family party will be on June 21st at the WE Street Center. We have Tulsa Driller Baseball tickets at the Hall, and Tulsa Oilers Football starts in April.
B.J. Rackers
(918) 346-8918
bjracker@twumail.org
Chairman of Facilities Maintenance:
This week, we have worked on identifying PMs that have been combined in trades and determining if they are getting completed by the multiple trades or if they are just getting signed off by singular trades. An example of this is the fire PIV valves; at one time, the plumbers had a separate pm from the electronics group. These were combined several years ago, and now each group must do their portion of the pm before it can be closed. This could be a big issue if only one trade is doing the PM, and it gets closed. We have identified several combined PMs in all trades and are investigating them. More to come
Just because corporate real estate orders a project to be done, doesn’t mean that our facilities group can’t do the work, we currently have an agreement with the company that they will notify the Twu of any planned future work which everyone seems to be doing other than corporate real estate, we will be filing grievances on behalf of our electricians for work they should have done in the Boiler room.
Jim Holt
(918) 378-2079
JHolt@twumail.org
Executive Board Members at Large:
George Albano:
Grievances
- I presented 12 grievances yesterday at the Hangars 1, 2, and 3 grievance meeting. Seven will be paid, three will be withdrawn, and two will move forward to GRB.
Benefits/401k
Starting May 16, 2025, 401k members who are aged 60-63 will have the opportunity for a higher catch-up limit. Details are below:
- Increased catch-up limit:
- SECURE 2.0 provides an optional provision for a higher catch-up limit starting in 2025 for team members who are 60 – 63 by the end of the calendar year.
- Eligible in 2025 are those born between 1962 – 1965.
- The higher catch-up limit is $11,250, which is up from $7,500.
- The higher catch-up limit is effective on the May 16 paycheck.
- Communications internally and from Fidelity will start later in April.
- Approx. 3,700 TWU team members are eligible for the higher catch-up limit this year.
- April Fidelity Education Sessions:
- Creating a Budget & Build Emergency Savings
- 4/23: 12 p.m. ET
- 4/24: 8 p.m. ET
- 4/29: 8 a.m. ET
- 4/30: 12 p.m. ET
- Creating a Budget & Build Emergency Savings
- Market Volatility:
- There is a banner on NetBenefits.com and an alert within the app that will take team members to educational information regarding Market Volatility.
George Albano
918-378-1947
GAlbano@twumail.org
Gene Chapin:
- Continue covering the midnight shift. I’ll be on base at 5:00 am.
- Continue working in the grievance office and walking the base daily.
- Continue working on new and old grievances.
- Had several 32j’s on attendance.
- The grievance meeting with management is on Thursday. They agreed to pay two and move three forward to the grievance review board (GRB), and management is looking into two grievances.
- If you know of anyone retiring, please get with an E-Board officer or union rep to receive a Bible and watch.
Gene
918-640-2097
GChapin@twumail.org
Tracy Hardin:
AERO:
Things are staying pretty steady right now, and members are still adjusting to the workflow. Remember to stay active and engaged. This may be a good time to get ahead of any training that is due.
The new shift bid process will be coming online soon. You should be able to preload starting April 14th at 8:00 a.m. Become familiar with the system and ask for help if you get hung up. It is best to fix it now before it all goes live.
As a reminder, always report to your crew chief when you have to leave the work area. They are responsible for your whereabouts in case of an emergency.
BENEFITS:
At our last benefits meeting, one topic was Injury On Duty reporting. It starts with a report from your supervisor. If you get hurt on the job, talk to your supervisor first so that the proper steps are taken to get you the service you need.
LABOR COUNCIL:
On April 13th from 2 pm – 4 pm, there will be a SAVE THE VA RALLEY!!! in Muskogee at the VFW. It is located at 3815 W. Okmulgee St. Please come out and support our veterans, as their basic services are being threatened.
DON’T BACK DOWN!!!!
Tracy
(918) 409-5962
THardin@twumail.org
Don McCormick:
You will not get any info on Grievances or Welfare and Entertainment tonight due to the Importance of what is below. Grievances are our Priority in making sure the company adheres to the Contract that 91% of our membership voted for. Safety and common sense are also part of it.
I have had five meetings with Bid Unit 263 Hgr 6 this week and plan on having a few more next week with Bid Unit 257 Hangar 5.
You have read about me walking the floor and an AMT complaining about equipment not being serviceable and having to tag out four (4) pieces of equipment to change a 777 MLG tire as well as the hangars looking like “SHIT !!!!” about 6 weeks ago.
I have been a mechanic in HGR 5/6 for the last twenty-plus years, and so I decided to take off my blinders!
- I have found on a 3-hour walk that we had 25 pieces of equipment out of service by DATE but yet no one tagged it and put it into the Satellite area for Facilities to pick up. (This is AMT’s not doing their job of tagging equipment out of service and stores not monitoring their PMs)
- I have found that stores do not check-in and inventory any tooling “across the system,” which might be extreme, but reality. (AMT, CC and Stores Complicit on incomplete kits./tooling)
- I found parts from aircraft up to 90 days out & not returned to stores for processing in the back shops. (AMT’s not doing their job of tagging and notifying stores of the parts)
- I found stores taking over areas of the hangar to store their paper and tooling instead of putting it into their allocated areas.
- I found that ABM isn’t doing its job by making trouble calls about any issues in the bathrooms. They refuse to give a log of any items they call in. (I have requested this for 6 weeks with NO Answer) (This leads me to believe they are trying to push the narrative that Facilities Maintenance is not doing their job so they can take over more of the base.)
- I found management having people do monthly dock audits and telling the auditors that 20 write-ups are too many and that they will take care of that. They just make it two(2), so they look good on their Base Metrics. PS… (HGR 6 had two(2) write-ups, yet we have had four(4) parts left on the docks over 45 days, 10 pieces of equipment out of service, and numerous safety issues that are documented but can’t find their way to an AUDIT) [An unbiased audit has been approved of and I will update next week on the findings]
- I found that facility maintenance that used to have milk runs and work on equipment out of service has not been doing it because (AKA Sam Neal eliminating most of their PMs) they do not know where the satellite areas are.
All this was happening and we had been trying to address this with the meetings that were set to happen this week.
Then the following incidents occurred:
- So, in the last 7 days in Hangar’s 5/6, there have been 3 aircraft damaged due to AMT, CC, Supervisor, Manager, and SR. Manager, Director Complacency and a near miss tonight with a tug almost over-centering an NLG on towing.
This is bringing to light that WE are being too complicit in accepting the USAIR mentality (Matrixes) over the last several years as a way of doing business in “let’s” put out the fires and not address the real issues that are in front of us.” The TWU in HGR 5/6 is now becoming more involved in getting us back into the business of producing airplanes safely under the ways that have worked over the past 60 years under the LEGACY AA plan.
We need to ALL be more involved with Safety and making sure our fellow members are working safely and are protected, as well as understanding what our goals and contract mean.
Don
(918) 378-5823
DMcCormick@twumail.org
Daron Morgan:
- Continue covering the grievance office daily
- Continue working on new and old grievances
- I currently have 169 open grievances. 106 are part of Presidential grievances. 62 Known CC Outages and 44 qualifications. I have another bucket of 25 pre jcba grievances. That leaves a total of 38 current grievances which 4 of those have pending pay letters. I Am working to bring that number down.
- Monday April 14th, @ 0800 Shift Bid will be open for preliminary preferences.
- My next meeting with the CRO Leadership will be on Apr 22, 2025
- I’m not sure if it’s Spring Fever or what, but I am certain that the 32J season has been in full swing this past week. We have been swamped.
- If you have safety concerns in your area, please reach out to any of the safety team members or any Union Rep. Remember, Silence is Compliance.
- The Next Tulsa Drillers Homestand will start on Tuesday, April 15th-Saturday April 19th. We have tickets available at the Union Hall.
- The Tulsa Oilers Football Home Opener will be on Saturday, April 19th
- TWU Family Fun Day will be on Saturday, June 21st, at the WeStreet Ice Center. Registration information will be coming out soon
918-402-0089
Jay Potter:
Scope – Base Outsourcing Report, April 10, 2025
In-house Base Maintenance – Four (4) Stations
- 27 Aircraft
- 11 of these aircraft are check aircraft (MBV, CC, C11, or EIS).
- CTO – Charlotte, NC
- A319 – 2
- A321 – 3 (1 – C11)
- DWH – Dallas, TX
- A321 – 1
- B737MX- 1 (1 – EIS)
- B737NG – 1
- B777 – 1
- B787 – 2
- PTO -Pittsburgh, PA
- A320 – 1
- A321 – 2 (1 – S1, 1 – C11)
- TLE – Tulsa, OK
- A321 – 1 (AFT FUS DMG)
- B737NG – 9 (4 – MBV04, 2 – MBV08)
- B777 – 2
- B787 – 1 (1 – CC03)
- CTO – Charlotte, NC
Outsourced Base Maintenance – Three (3) Stations
- 30 Aircraft.
- 27 of these aircraft are check aircraft (MBV, CC, C11, S, or EIS).
- SLO_Aeroman, El Salvador – 19 Aircraft
- A319 – 4 (4 – 4S)
- A3129XF -2 (2 – 4S)
- A321 – 10 ( 8 – 4S, 1 – OASIS)
- B777 – 3 (2 – MBV09, 1 – MBV10)
- STA_VT San Antonio Aerospace, San Antonio, TX – 5 Aircraft
- A321 – 3 (2 – OASIS)
- B777 – 1 (1 – MBV04)
- B787 – 1 (1 – CC03)
- VQQ_Flightstar, Jacksonville, FL – 6 Aircraft
- B737NG – 6 (1 – MBV03, 2 – MBV05, 1 – MBV08, 1 – MBV09)
- SLO_Aeroman, El Salvador – 19 Aircraft
- Livery aircraft do not count toward the outsourced man-hours (stations include AMA, GUS, and ROW).
- If you have questions regarding Contractual Scope Language, you can reach me at (918) 845-8059 or jpotter@twumail.org. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Tulsa Aviation Maintenance Group (AMG) Headcount
| April 10, 2025 | January 23, 2020 | VARIANCE | |||||
| TCC | 71 | TCC | 79 | TCC | -8 | ||
| CC AMT | 281 | CC AMT | 245 | CC AMT | 36 | ||
| AMT | 2393 | AMT | 2681 | AMT | -288 | ||
| OSM | 483 | OSM | 425 | OSM | 58 | ||
| INSP | 244 | INSP | 263 | INSP | -19 | ||
| CC CL | 17 | CC CL | 16 | CC CL | 1 | ||
| CL | 154 | CL | 130 | CL | 24 | ||
| TOTAL | 3643 | TOTAL | 3839 | TOTAL | -196 | ||
Hiring
- For available vacancies in Tech Ops, check jobs.aa.com.
- Aviation Maintenance Technician
Retirement Committee – Jay Potter & George Albano
- Retirement Seminar Presentation
- The company has shared the presentations with the union and we will make available to the members on the Local 514 website (twu514.org)
- Retirement Resources are available on Jetnet for those looking to retire..
- In Jetnet, click Resources at the top of the page
- Under Information and Help, click Team Member Services
- Scroll down and click on Retirement
- There you will find several links:
- Retirement eligibility
- How to access retirement income
- Retirement gift selection
- How to stay connected with American
- Retirement benefits and privileges
- Travel privileges for retirees
- Retirement gift FAQ
- Signing up for an electronic W-2
- Fidelity has a designated phone number for AA employees
- (800) 354-3412
- Fidelity offers designated Medicare Advisors to answer any questions (this is a free service)
- Call (833) 886-0033 to schedule an appointment
- You may also schedule an appointment at medicare.fidelity.com
- In addition to setting up an appointment, this site is an excellent resource for Medicare
- Visit the Local 514 website for your retirement resources
- twu514.org
Retirements / New Hires
- We had six (6) members retire the week of Mar31 – Apr 06, 2025
- 1 TCC
- 2 AMT
- 1 OSM
- 2 MLS
- We had three (3) new hires the week of Mar 31 – Apr 06, 2025
- 3 AMT
MRO Americas 2025 – April 8 – 10, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia
- I attended the MRO Americas in Atlanta, Georgia this week in my role as the executive board officer responsible for tracking the company’s outsourcing compliance and the associated headcount compliance in accordance with our scope language. I have attended the MRO Americas every year since taking office, and it consistently provides valuable insights into the MRO, airline, and broader aviation industry. This year marked the first time that the TWU International sponsored a booth at the event. We had the opportunity to speak with many students from A&P schools about pursuing a future in the airline industry and shared the many benefits that our union provides.The TWU International along with TWU Locals 514, 567, and 591, also sponsored gifts for the competitors and participants. We were proud to support our American Airlines teams – both base and line – who once again represented our aviation craft and the company with the highest level of professionalism, as they do every year.
- AA Teams consisted of:
- Team Captain: Tim Sills, TCC TULE
- Base Team
- Scott Bell (TUL)
- Luis Cervantes-Bustios (TUL
- Brent Duvall (TUL)
- Sergio Lozada Chinea (TUL)
- Lisa Prince (TUL)
- Nick Wiseman (DWH)
- Line Team
- Edgar Danis-Montero (IOC)
- Jason Ferguson (PHL)
- Erik Lopez – Isidro (CLT)
- Robert “Bobby” Mack (MCO)
- Damian Navas Moreano (PHX)
- Albert “Al” Padilla (IAH)
- AA Event Judges
- Lyle Becnel, TCC, TULE
- Steven Corbett, CC, TULE
- Robert Foresman, TCC, TULE
- Bill Klusman, CC, TULE
- Aaron Klippel, CC, SAN
May Rebid will be by the electronic Bidding Hub
- You can access the Bidding Hub by going to the TechOps TUL Bulletin Board
- Go to TechOps home page
- Scroll down to Base Maintenance Promoted Links
- Click on Bulletin Boards and select TUL under Base
- Click on Bidding Hub
- You can also access the Bidding Hub through Worbrain
- Click on TechOps Bidding Hub
- The Bidding Hub preliminary preferences will become available on Monday,April 14, 2025, at 0800
- You will be able to pre-load your selections similar to the vacation picks
- Live bid (5-minute window) will be April 21-22 for Crew Chiefs, TCCs, Sr. Planners, and Inspectors
- Live Bid (5-minute window) will be April 23-25 for all other work groups
- New Shift starts on Monday, May 12, 2025
- I highly recommend you take a screenshot of the available options. With this new electronic system, we will lose the written visibility (paper bid sheet) showing how many members are posting for each available preference/location/slot.
Jay
(918) 845-8059
JPotter@twumail.org
Working Women’s Committee
The WWC volunteered at the “Girls in Aviation Day” (GIAD) at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM), raising awareness among young ladies about the opportunities in aviation.
Passages
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
The Passing of Retired Brother John Fisher
It’s with sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Brother John Fisher, on April 10, 2025. John started working at American Airlines in 1960 and retired from the position of Aviation Maintenance Technician – Crew Chief in 1996. Please keep the Fisher family in your thoughts and prayers. No other details were made available at the time …
The Passing of Retired Brother Bob Edwards
With solemn hearts, we announce the passing of Bobby Gene Edwards in Pryor, Oklahoma, whose presence will be deeply missed, having departed on February 28, 2025 at the age of 82. Bob had started working here at American Airlines back in 1973 and retired from the position of Plant Maintenance Mechanic in 2003. Please keep the …