SPECIAL FLIGHT DEPARTMENT HOTLINE
October 13, 2011

This is CA John Hale with the Flight Department Hotline for Thursday, Oct. 13.

One fact of life that you and I as pilots have accepted is that while we don’t always choose the circumstances we find ourselves in, we must find the course that ensures the safe completion of our flight. No matter what position you hold on the flight deck, it is understood that you will analyze every situation and given the options ahead, you choose the best of what you’re given.

That’s the reality of leadership as well, and while I’d prefer to deal with only the good news and positive situations, just as we all do in the cockpit, I must deal with them all. Today I have to inform you of the decision to close our San Francisco crew base. This decision was not made lightly and comes with much regret and only after intensive discussion and strategic analysis. Unfortunately, this difficult course of action proves to be the best in the long run for all concerned.

As many of you know, the recent surge in retirements has left our manning levels to be critically short to the detriment of our schedule reliability. We were unable to achieve a bridge agreement to allow us to temporarily ease the manning crunch, so we must find another way to underwrite the reliability of our operation. That means concentrating our resources where we were need them most and marshaling our forces around our cornerstones strategy. The current economic environment also leaves us faced with making tough choices about where and how we spend our money and this closure will save significant reserve and management costs.

While this is not the course we’d planned on or hoped for, we must nonetheless take the required steps to deal with the situation we now find ourselves in, adapting and finding another clear path through difficult circumstances. That’s not only the commitment we make every day on the flight deck, but also the reality of the airline business in the 21st century.

Of course, we understand the impact this decision has on pilots and families, just as we have experienced many times before in the closing of pilot crew bases in Raleigh-Durham, Seattle, Nashville, and San Diego. We in the Flight Department stand ready to help the pilots who are affected by the base closure to move smoothly into positions at other bases around our system.

You’ve heard me say it before, but I’ll repeat it again: we are the strongest we can be when we work cooperatively and with a commitment to the ultimate goal, which is a thriving and secure American Airlines, solidly positioned for the future in a very competitive industry. Together, we’ll get through this difficult time, reinforce our airline’s resilience, and, in the process, ensure our future and that of our 70,000 coworkers.

That’s all for today.