AA Mechanic & Related: Lifetime Travel, Recall and Resignation

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06/29/2017

Fellow Members,

There has been a lot of discussion lately about travel benefits available to furloughed employees and/or those who have been recalled then resigned or retired. Our conversations with M&E have yielded this update:

If an employee was furloughed from January 6, 2005 through June 1, 2006, due to outsourcing, they are entitled to lifetime travel, if they had 15 or more years of service at the time of furlough.

  1. Article 8, Page 53: “Employees who have been on furlough for more than five (5) years will not be eligible for travel under the Company’s sixty-five (65) Point Plan unless the employee returns to active service for a minimum of six (6) months.”
  2. Employees furloughed during this time frame, that have been recalled and refuse recall, will be terminated and will not have lifetime travel or travel benefits.
  3. Employees furloughed during this time frame, that have been recalled and are eligible for retirement, may opt for retirement. If they retire, they keep their lifetime travel.
  4. Employees furloughed during this time frame, that resign prior to any recall, will be entitled to maintain their lifetime travel.
  5. The date used to identify the correct determination of the above decisions, will be the date listed in the GPMS system that maintains all IAM personnel moves.

Example: An employee was recalled on 04-19-15. If their resignation paperwork is on file prior to 04-09-15, they maintain their lifetime travel. If they terminate (do not respond) or resign after the recall notification, they lose their travel benefits, per #1 above. Article 8, page 53.

The Travel Department was asked for clarification on this topic and advised that each person effected should contact retirement.services@aa.com in order to verify that they are actually qualified for travel.