CIO is correct. In the forty years I’ve been working at American there has never been a new aircraft sent out for heavy overhaul. In fact, according to the record in the recent 29 D there were only two instances where any aircraft were sent out for heavy checks. The first was by agreement in 1995, and the second was the 757 outsourcing dispute which the company agreed to settle at full value after the arbitrator suggested they do so when the hearing was completed. No award I ever heard of found that AA had the right to outsource equipment or aircraft because it was new, AA never even claimed the right in any hearing that I know of. If they believed they had this right they would have tried to use it. So the question is not whether any arbitrator ruled against them, it is whether an arbitrator has ever ruled for them. No arbitrator I am aware of has.
As CIO said, that was under the old agreement. He did not say the new agreement is better than the old agreement – he said that the new agreement has a flat cap on maintenance spend for outsourced work that has no exception for new aircraft or equipment. He’s right, it doesn’t, and as I understand it from people I know involved in the negotiation, the issue of coverage of new equipment and aircraft was specifically raised and management agreed that such work was covered and part of the formula. While the new provision is a step backwards from what we used to have, it still protects far more work than anything else out there.