Dear Colleague:
We understand that the impact of an Eagle separation on personal travel privileges is of concern to employees at both Eagle and American, and we've received many questions about travel since the announcement of the planned divestiture of Eagle.
While there are still many details to be worked out, we wanted to share with you our general thinking on travel privileges for both American and Eagle employees following a separation of Eagle. In broad terms, we anticipate establishing a transition period of five years following an Eagle separation, during which our approach to personal travel, including jumpseat travel, for existing AA employees, and for existing Eagle employees who continue to work for Eagle in jobs supporting AA-branded flying, would continue much as it is today.
During this five-year period, employees who continue to work for Eagle in support of the AA operation, and who achieve the required age and service for retiree travel privileges while doing so, would be eligible to receive retiree travel privileges.
It is customary in the U.S. airline industry for mainline airlines (like AA) and their regional partners (like Eagle) to have an employee travel agreement. So, we expect that travel would be part of an overall Air Services Agreement between AA and AE. All of the final terms and conditions of the Air Services Agreement have not yet been established. At the end of the five-year transition period, we anticipate that American and Eagle would negotiate a new employee travel agreement that is consistent with the business relationship between AA and AE and industry standards at that point in time.
While an Eagle separation would not impact interline travel for AA employees, new interline agreements would have to be established between Eagle and the other airlines and would take effect upon the separation. We are hopeful that these would be similar to what's in place for AA/AE today, but we can’t know for sure until the negotiations are complete.
As always, AA retains the right to amend the TRIP Book and make changes to its travel policies and procedures, including those for retirees. We currently expect that any changes made during the transition period would apply equally to employees at both airlines.
Final decisions on travel privileges will not be made until the specific structure of the transaction is known, some time in 2008. More definitive information will be provided at that time. In the meantime, we hope that this high-level information helps you to understand the direction we're expecting to take.
Sincerely,
Jeff Brundage Peter Bowler
Senior Vice President President and CEO
Human Resources American Eagle Airlines, Inc.
American Airlines, Inc.
We understand that the impact of an Eagle separation on personal travel privileges is of concern to employees at both Eagle and American, and we've received many questions about travel since the announcement of the planned divestiture of Eagle.
While there are still many details to be worked out, we wanted to share with you our general thinking on travel privileges for both American and Eagle employees following a separation of Eagle. In broad terms, we anticipate establishing a transition period of five years following an Eagle separation, during which our approach to personal travel, including jumpseat travel, for existing AA employees, and for existing Eagle employees who continue to work for Eagle in jobs supporting AA-branded flying, would continue much as it is today.
During this five-year period, employees who continue to work for Eagle in support of the AA operation, and who achieve the required age and service for retiree travel privileges while doing so, would be eligible to receive retiree travel privileges.
It is customary in the U.S. airline industry for mainline airlines (like AA) and their regional partners (like Eagle) to have an employee travel agreement. So, we expect that travel would be part of an overall Air Services Agreement between AA and AE. All of the final terms and conditions of the Air Services Agreement have not yet been established. At the end of the five-year transition period, we anticipate that American and Eagle would negotiate a new employee travel agreement that is consistent with the business relationship between AA and AE and industry standards at that point in time.
While an Eagle separation would not impact interline travel for AA employees, new interline agreements would have to be established between Eagle and the other airlines and would take effect upon the separation. We are hopeful that these would be similar to what's in place for AA/AE today, but we can’t know for sure until the negotiations are complete.
As always, AA retains the right to amend the TRIP Book and make changes to its travel policies and procedures, including those for retirees. We currently expect that any changes made during the transition period would apply equally to employees at both airlines.
Final decisions on travel privileges will not be made until the specific structure of the transaction is known, some time in 2008. More definitive information will be provided at that time. In the meantime, we hope that this high-level information helps you to understand the direction we're expecting to take.
Sincerely,
Jeff Brundage Peter Bowler
Senior Vice President President and CEO
Human Resources American Eagle Airlines, Inc.
American Airlines, Inc.